Second chance
by Ariel4891
Summary: What if Zuko dies, but is brought back as someone entirely different? Can he learn to cope with his new life, or will he do everything in his power to get things back to normal again?
1. Zuko

Walks are a good time to think. That's all you need sometimes, to just stop and think. So I plan to get a lot of thinking done today. There are a lot of things I can think about, but I automatically think of the avatar. With thoughts of the avatar, come thoughts of home. I think of all the things I miss: the palace, my family, and of the near constant summer. It is my favorite season after all. But most of all, I miss my mother; she was always there for me. Whenever I was sick, she would come to my room and stay up all night with me.

Every once in a while, come to a secluded meadow; I'm pretty sure I'm the only one that knows about it. It is beautiful and relaxing there, the perfect place to train. There is a small stream flowing right down the center of my meadow- it adds to the peacefulness of it all. There are a lot of trees, very tall grass, and plenty of wildflowers that manage to calm me down no matter how bad of a day I've been having. I decide to get some training done; I really need it. Since I started traveling with my uncle, I have not had much time to train. We were always on the run from my sister.

I mentally slap myself for thinking about my sister. I promised myself a while ago that I will lock her from my mind, as If I never had a sister at all.

I walk up to the edge of the stream, and steady my breathing. I bring up my right hand, releasing fire at the same time and bringing it down sharply, forming a whip. I close my eyes and do the same with my other hand. Taking both the fire whips, I focus on shifting my stances, forming a kind of dance. I bring the whips up and down, taking them to one side, then the other. I open my eyes and pick a target. A rock, 20 feet away. Breathing in deeply, I concentrate on making the two whips as thin and as sharp as I can. I bring back my whips and lash them out at the rock, hitting them square in the middle. I close my eyes again and allow myself a small smile.

"Looks like you learned a new trick, Zuzu."

My eyes automatically snap open. I know that voice. Azula.

"What do you want?" I say, turning around slowly, acing my sister. She has a look of malice on her face that says she means business.

"Father gave me orders to capture you, but…I don't think I will."

If my sister had ever confused me before, it was nothing compared to what I feel now. Why wouldn't she capture me? Is she letting me go? Why in the world would she be doing this? All of these questions, and more, are all swirling around in my mind. I'm baffled. If she isn't going to capture me, then why is she showing herself to me? Does she think I will praise her for letting me go or something? Does whe want me to owe her a favor? I'm speechless, but I try to force something out of my mouth.

"What? You're letting me go?" Is all I can think to say.

Azula smiles at me, she probably wants to look sincere and trustworthy, but the effect is far from it.

"Dear brother, what made you think I'm letting you go? All I said was that I wasn't turning you over to father." Azula says.

Comprehension hits me like a brick wall. She's going to do something worse than capture me. I immediately get into a fighting stance and look around for her fellow freaks. Her friends must be hiding around here somewhere. I don't think she would come unless she had some kind of backup or protection. Azula isn't planning on letting me go, she's going to take me as her prisoner, or worse, kill me.

"What's wrong Zuzu? Is something the matter?"

I shoot out a fireball at her head, just to show her I am on to her. She easily deflects it, letting out a fire wave of her own. The speed of her flame is amazing; I barely have time to dodge it before another one comes my way. I bring out my fire daggers and leap at Azula, throwing a flaming kick at her head. She leaps back, nimbly dodging my blows. She swipes at my face with her fingernails. I stagger back; a dull pain is coming from my forehead. I am immediately reminded of the fight I had with Azula of her ship.

I hardly have time to think as Azula charges at me, unleashing a terrible barrage of flames. I deflect almost all of them, until one quick flame hits me in the square of my chest. I stumble back and fall hard, having the air knocked out of me. I gasp for breath and look up to see Azula staring maniacally at me. She begins to swig an arm around, electricity sparking from her left hand. She brings it around in a circle, and begins to mimic the motion with her right hand, electricity shooting from her index and middle fingers. She brings her fingers together then lunges forward launching a lightning bolt from her left hand. The lightning arcs over the small meadow, heading straight toward me.

Nothing happened in slow motion, as you sometimes hear it does. The lightning came at me quickly, hitting me in the chest. A blinding pain shoots through my body; I hit the ground and try to raise my head as my strength fades. I stare up at my sister, shocked that she would be able to do this to me.

The last thing I see before my vision blacks out, is Ty Lee and Mai jumping to the ground from somewhere in a tree.

"See? I told you I wouldn't need backup," Azula said smugly to Ty Lee. "Mai, didn't you like Zuzu? Sorry I had to kill him…"

Then blackness.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o

I drifted.

I am surrounded by water. It is in my ears and my nose but I don't care. I faintly remember that I needed to do something, something important, but I can't remember what it was. I try to swim my way to the surface of the water I am in. For some reason I know the surface is good. That if I reach it, something good would happen.

I hear an angelic voice call my name, almost angrily. Am I not supposed to  
be here? I try to find the angel and apologize for coming, apologize for the fact that I couldn't defeat my sister. But the water is too deep, it is pressing at me from all sides.

I look around me; everything is a deep red color. I look down and see an endless black, but when I look up, I see the surface. I swim up, but I seem to only move a few inches.I growled in frustration. I start to swim even harder, and am rewarded with a few feet. I just swim, and swim, as hard as I can until I am a few inches from the surface. With one last kick, I break through the surface.

I cough the water out of my lungs and nose, and then look around.

I am in a cave, by the looks of it. There are only a few lights in the cave, casting an eerie glow on the walls. The walls look wet, as if it has just rained inside of the cave, but the floors are dry. A sudden burst of fire takes my attention away from the walls and brings It to a figure steadily rising from the flame. I can tell that the figure is very tall, with a strong build and broad shoulders. He has a top knot so I can tell he is of firenation decent, he looks oddly familiar though. Its like I have seen him before, but I can't place when and where. His face is cast in shadow, but I can tell that he is old. When he speaks it sends chills down my spine.

"Prince Zuko, of the firenation."

I feel I should answer.

"Yes."

"I am the fire god Agni. You are here because of the way you spent your life, hurting those around you. You have caused nothing but problems for the Avatar and his friends."

"But I had to do it! My father took my hono-" I said, trying to justify my actions, only to be stopped by his booming voice.

"I am completely aware of the circumstances. But Zuko, you were never without your honor. You never lost it. Do you think it not honorable to stand up for what is right? You tried to save thousands of people, is that not honarable?"

"No."

"Then you were never without your honor."

"You are right; I guess I never really lost my honor. But there is nothing I can do to fix this now, I had my chance. I wish I could have figured this out earlier." I said sadly.

"I can bring you back, you know. I can show you what you have done, how you made life hard for the people around you. I can help you experience all of this, and make yourself a better person."

Go back? Is this really possible? My mind is reeling with this information. I know I died, but how can I possibly go back? Maybe if I go back, I will be able to see Uncle again and apologize to him for everything. I decide to go for it.

"What do I have to do?" I ask tentatively.

"It is simple; all you have to do is sincerely change for the better. Then I will give you back to your body."

"Ok, I'll d-" I was about to agree with the deal when I realized something. He said he would bring me back to my body only after I had changed. "So I won't get my body back at first?"

Agni steps out into the dim light, illuminating his face. He is indeed an older man; his beard is very long and white. He smiles at me, almost maternally, and with a flick of his wrist, he's gone. It feel like I'm falling, falling fast. I hit ground hard but surprisingly, I feel no pain. I quickly jump to my feet and look around at my surroundings. I seem to be alone at the edge of a lake. The water looks clean so I decide to take a drink. When I reach my hand down into the lake I freeze, this isn't my hand. The hand looks distinctly girly; it is now that I start to feel scared. I stand up and look at my reflection in the water.

I'm girl. But not just any girl, I'm the Avatars traveling companion. The waterbender.


	2. katara

"You expect us to eat this for dinner?"

I was staring at Sokka's hand; he was holding about five nuts. He went out scouting for food about an hour ago and came back with nothing but a handful of nuts. I was pretty sure that one of those nuts is actually a clod of dirt.

"Well I'm sorry, but this is all I found. There is nothing out there." Sokka said to me pleadingly. He probably thought that I was about to yell at him, like I usually did. But lately I had been trying to control my attitude, so I had to contain my anger.

"Its ok, I'll try to find something on Appa's saddle, there might be some Duckbear jerky in my bag." I said, forcing a smile. But my smile must not have had the desired effect, because just then Sokka's eye started to twitch.

"Yeah, you don't need to do that Katara. I'll just keep looking." Sokka said nervously, running into the forest.

"No! Sokka wait! I'll just-" Katara started, but was cut off by Toph.

"Just let the wimp run, he needs his exercise anyway…" Toph said with a grin, causing me to giggle. "With any luck, he might actually find something." 

She walked to me and sat on a tree stump; her eyes gazed off at the distance to the unseen. I turned around and look at the camp we had just made. We decided to make camp at a small clearing in the middle of a dense forest, so there was not too much room to move around. The whole perimeter of our camp was surrounded by pine trees that let out the most delicious smell. There was an empty fire pit in the middle of the clearing, which means that we weren't the first ones to find this place a suitable camp, but they were long gone. The grass was worn down from being constantly walked on, but the clearing was still beautiful in its own way. It had charm, I guess I could say.

"When did Aang say he would be back? He has been out for a long time, don't you think?" I asked tentatively. He left a while ago to check the area for dangers and stuff like that. "You don't think he is in trouble, do you?"

"You know what I think? I think you worry way too much. You just need to relax, go find a puddle to bend around or something." Toph said while lying down on the stump.

"You are probably right; I'll just go and find a stream or something. Tell everyone where I went when they get back." I said, and then I walked out of the clearing.

I remembered flying over a stream on the way to camp; I remembered it not being too far from here, so it shouldn't take too long to get there.

But I was wrong.

After about thirty minutes of walking, my feet started to hurt really badly. I flopped down onto the ground and pulled my bending water out of my flask. If I was lucky, I could probably sooth my feet with my healing. I formed a healing glove and placed it on my foot. The relief hit me almost immediately. I felt a lot better when I stood up and continued my journey to the stream.

Eventually, after what seemed like an hour of walking, I started to hear the sound of running water. With a smile on my face, I started to run toward the noise. For some reason, water always made me happy, whenever I was sad or depressed, if I just go and play in some water I will get better.

I reached the water and striped into my white breast bindings and leggings so I could move around a lot easier. I easily dove into the water head first and did a couple of laps up and down the stream. 

o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o

Walking back to camp was easier than it had been to get to the stream. The scenery was much better too; there were lots more wild flowers and chirping birds. The different path I was taking seemed to be getting there a lot faster also. I subconsciously reached up to hold on to my mother's necklace, but found nothing there.

"OH CRAP!" I yelled, racing back to the stream. I must have forgotten to put it back when I was done swimming. Wild animals could have taken it, or it could be floating down the stream right now! I mentally slapped myself for freaking out, I was sure it was still where I left it. I crashed through the trees that surrounded the stream, whirling around frantically in search for my necklace. Luckily, it only took me a few seconds to spot it next to a nearby rock. I thanked the gods as I picked it up and clasped it around my neck.

It happened suddenly: I felt as though a hook wrapped around my stomach had just been jerked backward. I felt the ground leave my feet as I began to be dragged brutally backward by this unseen force. I closed my eyes by instinct and started to scream, I prayed to the gods to spare my life. Hopefully this would all be over soon.

My feet slammed into the ground with such force that my knees gave way and I fell on my face. I jumped up as fast as I could, with some difficulty, and looked around. I appeared to be at another clearing at around sunset, this time bigger than ours, with old, hollow, trees everywhere. I got this unsettling feeling that I did not belong here, but as I looked around, I saw that there really was no way out of this place. There were dead trees around that gave off a menacing presence as I walked around looking for a clue as to where I was. As I was about twenty feet from the place I originally appeared, I saw a figure in the distance. I walked hesitantly forward, wondering the whole time if I should really approach this person. When I got closer, I noticed that the figure was a woman with dark, mocha brown hair that was waist length. I also noticed that she was wearing blue. That fact made me very happy; maybe she was from the southern watertribe.

I reached her and cleared my throat to try to get her attention. It didn't work though, she didn't even flinch. I gently placed my hand on her shoulder, trying again to get her attention. Finally, she slowly turned around and looked into my face.

What I saw brought tears to my eyes.

"Mother?" I almost whispered. 

"Yes." She said and smiled maternally. Her eyes were the exact same blue as mine, her hair was the came mocha brown color. 

The flood gate opened and I burst into tears. 

o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o

"But I don't understand…how can I be here with you?" I asked my mother. I was resting my head on my moms lap; I never thought I would be able to do this again. 

"Do you know where we are?" She asked me.

"Actually, I don't. Where are we?" I was surprised that this question didn't pass through my head earlier. Now that I thought about it, this place looked like nothing I had ever seen before. It was like an alien planet.

"Katara," mom says, grabbing hold of my shoulders and sitting me upright, "we are in the spirit world."

"WHAT?!" I practically yelled. How could I have possibly traveled to the spirit world? Did I do anything to anger the spirits? Did I die? How could I have possibly died, did I fall into the river? The shock of what she said made me start to hyperventilate.

"Calm down sweetie, you're not dead."

"Why am I here then?" I asked a little more calmly.

"One of the gods must have sent you here, but that doesn't mean this is a punishment. It could only mean that he has something planned for you."

"If he has something planned for me, then why am I in the spirit world?" 

"Katara, we don't question the gods. Whatever they have planned for us will become apparent soon enough." My mom said, staring into my eyes.

I immediately feel guilty.

"Your right mom, but I still would like to know why I am here." I was still a little wary about being in the spirit world, but I will just stay quiet. This was strange and confusing but I was just glad that I am able to be here with my mother again.


	3. Redemption

Playlist: Phantasmagoria - Lost in Thought and Mindless Self Indulgence - Kill the Rock 

My high pitched screams filled the air.

"NO! No, no, no," I screamed to Agni, "anything but this! Anything! Why did it have to be her?" I would have settled for anything but this, why do I have to be stuck in this peasant's body? I would have even rather been in her brother's body!

I was not going to go anywhere in this body. Forget the deal I made with Agni, I was not going to be part of the avatar's "gang". It seemed as though as soon as I thought that I was not going to go through with the deal, the sky darkened. Dark clouds seemed to appear out of nowhere, and static filled the air. Thunder and lightning boomed in the once silent night. Large drops of rain splattered all around me.

"I don't care how wet you make me! I am not going to walk around as a girl!"

A fork of lightning came from the sky and struck the ground about five feet away. I took that as my cue to run for my life. I crashed through the bushes and trees, just trying to get away. As I ran, though, I realized how foolish it is to be running from Agni's wrath. If he wanted to get me, then he could do so easily. But if he isn't killing or hurting me, then he still must want to give me another chance.

"Katara! Get back here! You will never guess! Sokka actually caught us some dinner!" Someone yelled from somewhere to my right.

I skidded to a halt; they were calling for Katara, which means it must be the avatar talking. This is where I had to make my decision. Do I stay out here and most likely get killed, again, or do I join the avatar temporarily? The loud boom of thunder seemed to answer for me.

"Coming!" I yell.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o

I crouch down behind one of the many bushed surrounding the avatars camp.

"Katara!" The boy who is not the avatar yells lazily over his shoulder.

I realized that I really needed to learn their names, I was sure I would look suspicious if I started calling them peasants like I would normally. I waited for them to say each others names. I only currently knew that the name of the girl whose body I was in was named Katara, and that the avatars name was Aang.

"Will you shut up snoozles? She is right behind that bush right there." The girl in green said, pointing directly toward me. I was at a loss to explain how could she have possibly known where I was. The whole time I was here she never even glanced at my direction.

I stood up and looked toward the camp; there was no use in hiding anymore.

"Its about time Katara! Look, I caught you dinner!" The boy in blue said proudly. I looked at the food that was roasting over the fire and almost laughed out loud.

The guy was holding a snailsnake, not even a very large one.

"Sokka, it's just a snailsnake. Don't brag unless you bring home a duckbear, a snailsnake is not that interesting," the girl in green said from her perch in a rock.

Sokka. So the barbarian's name was Sokka.

"I tracked this thing for a whole hour! Hunting is harder than it looks Toph." Said Sokka.

Toph, Sokka, Katara and Aang. Toph, Sokka, Katara and Aang. That should be easy to remember.

"Are you kidding me? I could hunt with my eyes closed!"

"Of course you can! You're blind! It wouldn't make a difference!"

Toph's response was a large rock sent flying toward Sokka's head. So the girl is blind? I never would have guessed, at least by just looking at her. But that still didn't explain how she could have known I was there. This added to my respect for her, first she was able to detect my presence without seeing me, now she can live a normal life with no sight.

"Katara, are you ok?" The avatar asked me with a look of concern on his face. "You seem different somehow."

"What do you mean?" I asked nervously. Its not like I had done anything yet, I had just been standing here.

"Well, for starters, it looks like you have a board strapped to your back." He said to me with one raised eyebrow. It was then that I realized that my posture was all wrong, apparently Katara slouches, and deceiving this bunch of idiots was going to be harder than I thought. "And you look angry, you normally don't." Oh yeah, this was going to be much harder that I thought.

I immediately tried to soften my facial expression from its usual scowl. I relaxed my shoulders a bit and tried to smile, but I'm sure my smile looked really forced. I realized now that I would have to do just about everything different. I would have to chance my posture, my expressions, the way I talk, and even the way I sit. I started to get a big headache; I now know that this little charade is going to be way header than I thought.

"Well, I'm fine So-" Dang. What was his name? Sock? Sombrero? "Sokka!" I yelled out when I finally remembered. I noticed that this was not the best thing to have done; everyone must think that I have lost my mind. But I had a much important matter to attend to. I had to go to the bathroom.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o

After deflecting a few more questions, I excused myself from the camp. There were two things I had been dreading since I realized that I had become a girl. Number one: going to the bathroom. Number two: bathing. I may not have my honor, but I didn't want to have to see a naked girl. Even if that girl is me. But the sensation of an overly full bladder was starting to be way too much to handle. Maybe if I did them both at the same time…is it possible to take a bath without having to look at yourself? This is something that I would have to find out soon, I was starting to smell bad. I decided to just go and find a body of water and then decide what I was going to do from there. I started walking in a random direction, maybe I would eventually find a river, or stream. But soon, I saw that it was a lot easier than I thought. I could somehow sense where the water was.

Then it hit me. Katara was a waterbender. Does that mean I was also a waterbender? There was only one way to find out.

I walked more quickly toward where I sensed the water was at. Once I got there, I ran into the water, with my clothes on and everything. I stopped when I was up to my knees in water.

Taking a deep breath, I punched out into the air.

Nothing.

I tried to form a fire dagger in my left hand.

Also nothing.

At this point, fear was coursing through my body.

I lashed my arm out to form a fire whip, it worked, but something was not right. The whip I formed was not of fire, but of water.

I gasped with surprise.

I tried again, but the same thing happened.

"NO! Are you kidding me?!" I yelled out loud to nobody in particular. My day had just gone from bad to worse in a matter of seconds. First: I got turned into a girl. Second: I can't firebend, so I had to learn to waterbend now if I ever wanted to defend myself. If I didn't learn to waterbend, then when we got attacked by Azula, which I know we eventually will, then I will die…again.

I got out of the water and stalked back to camp. If I was still a firebender, the steam would be coming out of my ears right then.

As I near the camp, I can hear the avatar talking loudly to Toph. I was surprised that he was able to remain this long without being caught, considering he was so loud. But then I remembered that he was an airbender, airbenders are masters of evasiveness. I quietly sneaked through the bushes and made my way to a dark corner of the camp. I figured that I should avoid everyone as much as I can, at least that way they won't be able to find something wrong with the way I act. But If I didn't socialize with them, would they also find something wrong? Wow, I was definitely over thinking this. I decided, finally, to just sit down and if they ask what was wrong, then I would say that I was sick or something.

I sat down and just stared into the fire. After about 10 minutes of this I decided to meditate instead.

When I meditate, I tend to block out my surroundings. This is why I was surprised when Aang shouted in my ear, "Hey Katara! How are you doing?"

I nearly jumped out of my skin.

"I am meditating you idio-" I said, catching myself at the last moment, "I mean Aang."

"I didn't know you meditated!" Aang said in a chirpy voice.

I closed my eyes again, trying to ignore the boy. I concentrated on breathing in and out, over and over again. I few seconds later I started to hear the boy getting really impatient. He started to repeatedly sigh and yawn, shuffle his feat and then repeat the process again. I cracked my eyes open to see what Aang's problem was, but that was a bad idea. As soon as I opened my eyes he took that as a sign that I was done meditating.

"Katara, you're finally done! Do you want to play a game with me?" The boy asked excitedly.

"I'm. Not. Done." I said slowly in a cold monotone, hoping that he would just leave me alone.

"C'mon, please?"

"If I say yes, will you let me finish meditating?" I asked, realizing that this would go on forever if one of us didn't give in.

"Yeah! Ok, let's play…um…airball!"

"No way Aang." Sokka said, deciding to join in because of a huge lack for things to do. "Remember what happened last time we played airball? Not pretty."

"Why don't we play earth soccer?" Toph added. "I never got a chance to play that game where I lived."

"I know! Let's play redemption!" Said Aang.

"What's redemption?" Toph and I asked at the same time.

"Katara, you don't remember what redemption is? Ok, I'll remind you. First, we need a ball." Aang said walking around the camp. Eventually he stopped and picked up a pinecone. "Ok, those two trees over there, will be the western goal," Aang said pointing to some trees, "and the eastern goal posts is going to be over there. The goal of the game is to try to get the ball to your goal posts. The whole camp will be the arena, if you step out of bounds you will have to have a penalty and the other team will get the ball. Any questions?"

The game seemed simple enough: get the ball onto your side. But of course, the barbarian Sokka, was very confused indeed. I closed my eyes and began to meditate again, trying my hardest to drown out Sokka's stupid questions. His loud voice eventually turned into a quiet mumble in my mind. But one certain person's voice could not be tuned out.

"Let's start!" Aang shouted happily.

I grudgingly got up and made my way to our 'arena'. I had planned from the beginning to participate as little as possible.

"Ok, Sokka and I are going to be team captains. I Choose…Katara!" I was still not used to being Katara, so when he called my name I didn't even look in his direction. It took me a while to figure out that he was calling me.

Great.

"Ok, it's not like I get much of a choice. So get over here Toph." Sokka said rudely. Toph gave Sokka a death glare and stomped the ground with a smirk. Suddenly, a pillar of earth rose up from under Sokka and flung him into. He screamed in fear and fell comically on his butt.

"I think I am going to enjoy this game." Toph said with a maniacal smile on her face.


	4. Changes

This chapter is finally up, I'm really sorry about the long wait.

* * *

"On you mark! Get set! Go!" Sokka shouted to the sky.

Everyone immediately ran from their side of the arena to the 'ball' in the middle. I was the fastest, so I got there first. I smiled as I saw everyone not even half way to the ball yet. I reached out for the pinecone, but just as my fingers brushed it, the earth swallowed it whole.

"Hey!" I shouted out indignantly. "Aang never said that we could use our bending!" I yelled to the one person I knew was responsible for this. Toph's answer was a loud laugh as the pinecone popped out of the dirt and into her hand. Toph formed a large bat out of rock and hit the pinecone toward Sokka. It came at him with such speed that Sokka never saw what was coming. I cringed away as the pinecone hit him in the stomach, all I heard was the resulting moan of pain coming from Sokka. He collapsed onto the ground and a string of curses flowed from his mouth. Toph started laughing manically at what she had done. I kind of felt sorry for Sokka though, that had to have hurt a lot.

"Sokka, you're supposed to catch the ball!" Toph shouted to Sokka, still laughing maniacally.

Sokka got back up and threw himself back into the game with renewed vigor. Trying to save what little pride he had left, Sokka finally got the ball and ran toward the goalpost.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o

Several cuts and bruises later, we were all sitting around the fire.

"I would have won, if Toph didn't cheat…" Aang said bitterly.

"But twinkle toes, it's not my fault that you kept tripping on rocks." Toph said in mock innocence. It was common knowledge that Toph had tripped all of us. She played dirty, and I respected that.

I went over the game in my head. The whole first half turned out to be a one-sided battle between Sokka and Toph. Toph was, obviously, the one who instigated all of the violence. I could see that this would turn into a bending battle, and I did not want to get into one of those since I couldn't firebend, so I excused myself form the game. I was not going to try to use waterbending against a master earthbender and a master airbender, especially because I couldn't waterbend at all. So I just told everyone that I was going to act as the official referee for the game.

So now it was a bending match between Aang and Toph, Sokka had easily been taking out of the picture. He was currently half buried under a pile of dirt.

The game eventually ended with a bang. Literally.

Aang and Toph, both exhausted, both sent their element flying toward each other at exactly the same moment in a final attempt at wining the game. When Toph's boulder collided with Aang's sharp blast of air, the rock shattered and air whipped all around us. Toph and Aang just stood there, chests heaving, and looked at each other. After about a minute, Aang blushed and looked away.

"I think we will call this one a draw." Sokka said tentatively.

"You don't need to try to make Aang feel better, its clear that I won." Toph said boldly.

I sighed, are they going to be doing this all day? It seems that this is all they ever do, fight and bicker. Maybe that is what happens when your stuck with someone all of the time. Thinking of this made me miss Iroh. I wondered what he is doing right now; does he know I'm gone? Is he worried about me? Is he ok without me? That last thought made me laugh. Iroh is the dragon of the west; he can easily take care of himself. I smiled to myself when I remembered something that happened a week ago. I had gone out hunting for hours and came back with nothing. Iroh wasn't mad; he didn't yell at me or tell me I was useless, he just told me that it was ok. Iroh went and tried to find food and came back five minutes later with a huge duckfish.

"Katara!!" I had been so absorbed with my thoughts that when Aang yelled for me, I nearly jumped a mile.

"What?!" I screamed. My high pitched voice supposed me again, was I ever going to get used to this voice?

"Its time for you to help me practice my waterbending!"

Crap.

"W-what?" I stammered. I couldn't believe this was happening. How can I teach him waterbending when all I know is firebending? I quickly tried to think up an excuse. Would it work if I told him that I hurt myself? It was no good, I couldn't concentrate enough to come up with an excuse, Sokka and Toph's arguing was too loud.

"C'mon, let's go." Aang said while grabbing for my arm. I quickly flinched out of his reach; a reflex, but Aang didn't seem to look at it that way. He looked hurt and his eyes started to water. He looked away and tried to hide it, but I knew he was crying. I can't stand it when people start to cry. That is my weakness, for some reason, it just annoys the crap out of me. I decide that I better go with him, anything to get him to stop crying. I got up and followed his smiling face out of the camp.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

"Aren't you going to get in?" Aang asked me from his place in the river.

"Can't, my foot hurts." I said gruffly.

"Please? You can heal it in the water." Dang, he got me there.

I reluctantly started to walk into the water.

"Uh…Katara?" Aang said slowly.

"What?" I asked stopping.

Blushing, Aang said "Your robe is still on…"

I slowly started to strip off my tunic and leggings, thanking the gods that she wore other clothes beneath her robes, and walked into the cold water. The water seemed to relax me a little; maybe this was because I'm now a waterbender.

"What are you going to teach me this time?" Aang asked eagerly.

"Uh…." I was hit with a stroke of genius, "why don't we do something different today?"

"Like what?" he looked excited.

"I want to make sure that you perfected the moves I have already taught you so…" this is where it got difficult, "I want you to teach them to me." This works out perfectly for me, I get to learn how to use my waterbending, and he still thinks he's getting a lesson out of it.

"What?" He looked dumbfounded.

"Well, I will pretend I don't know any waterbending at all, and you will teach me..."_You little idiot_- I continued in my mind.

"Oh, I get it now! Ok, what do you want me to 'teach' you first?" Aang giggled and winked when he said the word teach.

"I don't know…lets start with the basics."

Aang thought quietly for a minute

"Ok, let's start with pushing and pulling the water."

o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o

When I got back it was already dark. My muscles ached, and I had a huge headache. Everything was really hard for me; waterbending and firebending are such different elements. When you firebend, it is all about power, but waterbending isn't like that at all. I had to learn to bend all over again. And I didn't like it. Aang got distracted to easily too, and that was the cause of my headache. I frustrated myself by remembering all of my mistakes. I was so used to using harsh movements when bending, that when I tried waterbending, I failed.

"That was a good lesson Katara." Aang looked at me and blushed.

Oh no.

Don't tell me that he has a crush on me! No, no, I can't deal with this. Why did I seem to have all of the worst luck? First I was put into a girl's body, then this. I looked him directly in the eyes and then give him a glare that would make even my father stop dead in his tracks. I then turned around and stormed away to my bed role. I decided that if that guy starts to flirt with me, then I'm going to leave. I plopped onto the bed roll and stared up at the stars for a few minutes. There were so many of them, it made my feel really small and insignificant. If uncle was with me, he would probably try to teach me all of the star consolations. He has already taught me a few, but I was never really interested in learning more. I regret that now though. I guess I kind of took uncle for granted, I always thought he would be here to teach me useless things like that. He has always been there for me, and helped me when I needed it. if I ever see him again I will have to make sure to have him teach me all that he knows, even all of his tea knowledge.

Me eyes started to get heavy so I got inside of my bed and fell asleep.

When I woke up the next morning I was the first one up. I stood up and stretched my stiff muscles. I was very amused to find out how flexible I was now, I could actually touch my toes, and I never was able to do that in my body. I grabbed a towel and headed down to a river. I needed to take a bath bad, I had been trying to avoid taking one, but now I was starting to stink. I made the hike in about five minutes and stripped down to my breast bindings and leggings, I wanted to avoid taking a bath naked. I stepped into the water and almost died and went to heaven. The water was perfect; it had been warmed from the morning sun. I got into the water and started practicing all of the moves Aang showed me yesterday. I did this for a while and then started to get bored, so I took a swim.

After about twenty minutes I decided to head back to camp.

When I got there I was immediately bombarded by Sokka asking for breakfast. But there was only one problem; I don't know how to cook. I didn't really want to argue, I was already getting another headache. I looked into the bag of supplies to see what we had left. We had a few ravenrat eggs and some bread left, but that was about it. I sighed and commented to the group that we needed to go to a town soon. I got to work on cooking the eggs, when I was done, they were slightly burnt, but they were edible.

We all gathered around the fire that I used to cook the food, and ate in comfortable silence. Aang started talking though, and eventually everyone was joking around. I suddenly remembered this joke that uncle had told me a while ago and told it to them. It was then that I realized something. I was changing. I wasn't the angry, brooding avatar hunter I used to be. I was actually becoming a normal teenager. I wasn't really snapping at my comrades, like I did in the beginning, but I am actually being rather civilized with them.

"You said we needed to go to a town for supplies right?" Aang asked me.

"Yeah, were out of food." I saw Sokka, out of the corner of my eye, and he did not look happy. I felt a smile tug at the corner of my lips. I haven't smiled in such a long time so I decided to let it show. It was a little awkward, but it felt good.

"Ok, we can leave right no-" Aang started but was abruptly cut off by Toph.

"Actually, you and Sokka can go, you guys never do it. You leave all of the work for Katara to do, give her a break." Toph was uncharacteristically caring and nice. The whole group looked at her as if she had spontaneously sprouted a second head. "Guys," she said sternly this time, "leave now or I'll make you." She threatened. They didn't need to get told twice, they went running. I would have followed too, but a wall suddenly appeared in front of me, closing me off to the rest of the group.

"Listen," she pointed her finger at me threateningly "I don't know who the hell you are, but I know you're not Katara. You better explain yourself or my face will be the last thing you ever see again!"

"What do you mean? C'mon Toph, stop messing around." I said trying to sound calm and confused.

"Don't play dumb with me." She stomped on the ground and a large rock rose into the air. I decided that I should just tell her the truth.

"Ok! I'll tell you everything, but first you have to tell me how you knew I wasn't Katara." I compromised with her, sincerely hoping that she would tell me. I was actually really curious.

"Well, it was all of the little things you did. Your posture, the way you carried yourself, the way you talk. Did you really not expect me to find out? You have been with us for about two weeks now, and I'm not stupid." She said quickly as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Now…who the hell are you?"

"Ok, you have met me before. You know my uncle Iroh; I'm his nephew, Zuko." I said quickly. I looked up at her face and expected to see confusion and disbelief, but she was actually smiling. "You believe me?" I asked curiously.

"You seemed familiar, so I knew it was someone I must have met. But that still doesn't explain how you are in Katara's body." She sat down and stared up at me expectantly. This struck me as humorous; she didn't find this weird at all. It was just as if we were discussing the weather or something pointless like that.

I told her everything. I told her about the Azula attacking me and my death, and then about my meeting with Agni. It took me a while to tell the whole thing, but she never interrupted me once. She just looked at me with a blank expression, with no emotion showing on her face. And truthfully, it was a little unnerving; any normal person would laugh at me. Toph is different though, she might be tough and have an attitude, but she is a very understanding person…at least she is if you get on her good side.

"Ok," she said lightly, "so all you need to do is sincerely change for the better?" I nodded my head. "Then let's figure this out quickly, before the group comes back." I sat next to her and started thinking.

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more reviews faster updates

so read and review cuz I'm thinking of just stopping with this story, I hardly get any reviews anyway so...


	5. Visitation

OMGWTFBBQ!!! I'm so proud of myself! I was able to update in only a week!

HAHAHahaha!...ha...yeah...

Um...enjoy this new chapter. Its a Katara one, I thought she deserved one.

**Playlist:** Colico by Kris-Wilson on deviantart (check it out, its freaking good.)

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o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o

I thought being in the spirit world would be kind of cool, but now I'm just bored. I had been in here for about two weeks now, and let me tell you this…there is not much to do up here. I have found a few spirits that were interesting and fun to talk to, but after a while they got annoyed with me. The only thing that I can do around here is practice waterbending and talk to my mother. I'm not saying that talking to my mother is boring, but after two weeks, it just gets very monotonous.

I decide to go and ask my mother what there is to do around here, and how she keeps herself entertained.

"Mom?" I wait until she looks at me. "Is there anything to do for fun here?"

She smiled sweetly before answering. "Well, not really. But whenever I would get bored, I used to watch the human world. I used to watch you and your brother a lot."

"What?!" I yelled. "I didn't know you could do that! How does it work, I want to see what's going on with everyone." I said eagerly.

"Alright sweetie, wait here a second." My mom said and walked away. I tried to follow her with my eyes so I could see where she went, but she quickly disappeared behind the thick foliage. I sighed and waited, after a while I started to tap my fingers impatiently. She seemed to be taking a while, and I didn't know where she went, so that made it even more difficult to be patient. I stood up and paced the clearing. After what seemed like forever, my mother finally returned. She was carrying a large wooden basin. It looked old, the edges has chips on them, and there seemed to be burn marks on it in some places. As she came closed I saw that it had a faint glow, and when the old wood hit the sunlight it sparkled as if thousands of gems were embedded into its surface. As she got closer I could see that it was full of what looked like liquid silver.

"What is it?" I asked in wonder. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

"This is how you will see what is happening in the world. It will allow you to be with them, but they won't be able to see or hear you." She paused so her words could sink in. "I will warn you now; things will be different from when you last were there."

"I know" I said lightly. "Tell me how this thing works! I need to see everyone now!" What has the group been doing without me? Are they worried? A million questions were swirling around in my head. Anything could have happened while I was gone. They could have been attacked by Azula or Zuko. I couldn't help but thing selfishly if they missed me. I needed to see if anything happened to them, if they are in trouble, then I will never forgive myself.

"All you need to do is think of the person you want to see, and then touch the liquid. But I must remind you that they can't see nor hear you. You also might not like what you see, but you can't change what's happening no matter how much you try." I was barely listening to her, nothing really mattered except the face that I had been gone for way too long. I might go back only to see everyone in firenation prisons, or worse, dead. "When you want t come back- Katara?" I snapped out of my thoughts and looked up at her. "Pay attention, this part is important. When you would like to come back, all you need to do is think about this basin, concentrate really hard and then snap. It is very simple, so you better not forget. Don't be gone for too long, okay?"

"I won't mom." I reassured her. I ran up to my mother and gave her a huge hug. When we pulled away I looked into her eyes and saw nothing but worry. "I'll be fine, I love you." I reassured her.

I took a tentative step toward the wooden basin, and tried to think of the person I should check up on first. Aang's face popped into my mind first. I had to make sure the world's only hope for survival was okay, and if I am lucky, everyone else will be with him too. I cleared my mind of everything but Aang's smiling face and touched the silvers cool surface. A strong tingling sensation started from my fingertips and traveled up my arm and progressed through my body. The tingling started to turn into light shaking, and then escalated until I shaking was so violent that I thought I might fall.

The clearing started to gradually disappear and was replaced with a small town. The buildings were painted brightly and children were running around with big smiles on their faces without a care in the world. A small child snuck out from behind a barrel of water and tackled one of the kids who were lagging behind. Their playful shrieks filled the air. I smiled to myself as I remembered back to where Sokka and I used to play tag back in the southern water tribe. I sighed and looked around for Aang. I found him easily; he was watching Sokka haggle with a fruit vendor. "C'mon Sokka, just get the mango already, we need to get back to camp." He pleaded with Sokka. He was obviously tired of hearing Sokka argue with the man.

It seemed as if nothing was bothering them, they didn't seem worried at all that I was gone. Did they even notice? I started feeling really mad at them. Did they even search for me when I didn't come back? I suddenly got really angry at them. Did I mean so little to them that they wouldn't feel sad if I was gone?

"Jerks!" I screamed at them as loud as I could. They didn't even flinch; they just bought the mango and headed off toward the forest with a basket full of food. Such fury coursed through me that I couldn't contain myself any longer. I ran straight at them and aimed a punch at Sokka. My fist passed straight through him. I did it again and again until I started to get tired. Then I focused my anger on Aang. I used up the last of my strength to send a left hook through his skull. Suddenly, Aang stopped. He shuddered as if he was cold, but that was impossible because it was a very hot summer day.

_Maybe he felt that_, I thought to myself. I reached up and swiped my hand through his arm. He grabbed his arm with his other hand and looked around him. Okay, he definitely felt that. I got really close to his ear and yelled really loud in it. He flinched and spun around wildly.

"Sokka?" Aang whispered.

"Huh?" he answered back absentmindedly.

"Do you feel that?" His eyes scanned the path.

"Feel what?"

"…"

"What is it?"

"It's just…" he looked at Sokka uncertainly, "Don't you feel something? It's hard to explain, but it feels like some kind of a spirit. A minute ago I could have sworn I felt something pass through me." I looked at Aang and his eyes were wide. He looked truly terrified. "And I keep getting the chill out of nowhere. There is a presence here, but I'm not sure if it's friendly or not…"

Sokka's eyes were wide and his mouth was slightly agape. His eyes started scanning the area as if he half expected to see me. "Okay, let's get out of here; I'm really starting to get freaked out, anyway they are probably expecting us back at camp." They started walking so fast it was pretty much a fast jog. I slowly registered the fact that they said '_they are waiting_' not that Toph was waiting. Maybe that is why it seemed that nobody was missing me. It's because they already replaced me. I would have at least thought that they would miss me, but I guess I just wasn't very important to them. I suddenly felt very bad for thinking so selfishly. Aang is the avatar; he would need someone to continue teaching him waterbending. I sighed and ran to catch up to them.

They entered an unfamiliar clearing. I briefly scanned the area and saw that nobody was there, and then sighed in relief. I'm not sure if I could handle seeing my replacement.

"Hey guys!" Sokka yelled loudly. "Were back!" He paused for a few seconds and sighed dramatically. "GUYS!" He screamed.

"Hold your pants on Sokka, were coming. Just give us a second!" Toph screamed back at him.

Toph emerged into the clearing shortly after. She looked at Sokka and Aang and sopped shortly. "What's with you guys? Your hearts are beating like mad." I looked at them and wasn't surprised; they still looked really freaked out.

Suddenly a familiar voice rang out from the trees. "Yeah, you guys look terrible…" I spun around. I know that voice. The person who the voice belonged to stepped into the shade of the camp site. I fell to my knees, frozen. The person was me. She had the same blue eyes, the same long brown hair, and she even had the scar on my right arm that I had gotten while fishing in the South Pole. There was something different though. A faint red glow seemed to be radiating from her. She took a few stiff steps forward into the light and I gasped in surprise. I saw a small glimpse of a person in my body. She started walking towards Toph and I saw the person again, this time I could tell it was a boy. I started freaking out; there is another person inside my body. I was being possessed by the spirit of a stranger. I stared at him in disbelief, but as I stared, I started recognizing him. I was only looking at his side, but his hair and pale skin looked really familiar. Suddenly, he turned toward the fire that I was behind.

"Zuko!" I screamed in disbelief.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o

The spirit world swirled back into my vision. I looked around wildly, searching for my mother. I saw her humming near the trunk of a tree.

"Mom…" I sobbed. Tears ran down my face as I ran into my mothers warm arms.

"Oh dear, what happened?" She asked kindly while rubbing circles on my back.

"At first I was a little angry at them because they didn't seem to miss me at all, but then we got to the camp and I found out why…" I tried to continue but I could only sob into my mothers arms. All of the sadness and built up frustration came out as she held me. As I cried, my mother whispered comforting words into my ear and rocked my gently. After I somewhat composed myself, I tried again. "Everything was fine at the beginning, I saw them and everything was fine, but when we came back to the camp…I saw that I was there. Not the me t-that's with you, but it had my b-body and my voice. There was someone in my b-body controlling me! I just c-couldn't take it, so I j-just left." She continued comforting me until I finally calmed down. I wiped away my tears and tried to compose myself.

"What do I do now?" I asked desperately. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Honey, for now there isn't anything you can do. This is Agni's will, we cannot go against it."

"But…b-but-" this caused me to break out into a fresh new wave of tears.

"Shhhh, everything will be ok, just relax."

"I'm going back." I said once I calmed down a little bit.

"I know. I'll be here if you need to talk about anything. If you need help, come to me." My mother smiled at me and gave me one last big hug before I left.

I touched the silver and thought about myself, my face, this time. Within seconds, the campsite swirled into existence. It was nighttime here, and everyone was sleeping quietly. I sighed and sat down, ready to wait until they woke up, but I didn't have to wait long. After about ten minutes of waiting, I- I mean Zuko- got up from my bed roll and walked away from the camp. I got curious and followed him into the forest. We walked for about five minutes and ended up at a river. He stopped short and just started staring up at the moon, he smiled slightly and started taking off my robe and leggings. My whole face turned tomato red as he did this, I wanted to scream at him to stop, but I couldn't. Luckily, he left my breast bindings on along with the white leggings I also wore. Zuko slowly walked into the cold lake and submerged himself under the water. I swore out loud, if he gave my body hypothermia then I was going to kill him.

What Zuko did next surprised me greatly. He evened out his breathing and started to bend the water. He was really good too. His form was perfect as he gracefully brought water up and manipulated it into complicated shapes. He took the water and swirled it around agilely above his head and body, cleaning all of the dirt he had accumulated off himself. I giggled to myself as I imagined the water dancing around him as if he were in a ballet. After a while he stopped doing this and moved on, be started practicing moves that I remembered had taken me weeks to learn. I was a little resentful as he aimed a ice dagger at a small rock and hit it dead on, causing the ice to shatter into a thousand pieces that glittered in the moonlight. I sighed and sat down at the base of the tree, I really would have preferred watching someone else, but it was still too early for anyone to be awake.

I started spacing out, and the next thing I knew, it was light out and I was all alone. "Crap…" I muttered to myself as I jumped up and ran toward where I assumed the camp would be. It took me about five minutes to get to camp. When I got there I was happy to see that everyone was awake. I walked up to the big group of people and listened to what they were talking about.

Sokka and Aang were talking together with hushed voices, so I decided to start with them. It only took me a few seconds to realize that they were talking about me.

"I'm telling you, I felt it!" Aang whispered.

"Is there anything you can do about this? I mean, you're the avatar!"

"I don't know…" Aang answered as he sat down and started thinking.

I decided that I should try to avoid them for a little while. I moved on to where Zuko and Toph were also talking in hushed tones.

"This is so frustrating!" Zuko whispered harshly

"Shut up Zuko." _So Toph knows_, I thought curiously. I realized that if anyone in the group was going to find out, then it would most likely be Toph. I wondered why she didn't say anything to the others though. "Just keep thinking."

"How can I show that I've sincerely change for the better?! I have changed! Cant Agni see this?" Zuko brought up his hand and smacked his head in frustration.

"Ow!" I yelled in surprise. I actually felt that. When he hit himself, it actually hurt me. He hit his head again. "Ow! Stop that!" I yelled, I suddenly remembered that he couldn't hear me and screamed in frustration.

"AHHHhhh! Stop it!" Aang yelled suddenly. We all turned around in time to see Aang running off into the woods with his hands covering his ears. I chuckled softly to myself, I guess I was annoying Aang a little too much. I decided to calm down; I didn't want to make Aang go crazy.

I sighed deeply, and settled in for a long day.

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Well, you know the drill. Read and review. Please?

I need you opinions. I will have the next chapter up on Friday.


	6. Iroh

**Eh...its a little late, but I hope you enjoy it anyways.**

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"UUGGHHHHhhhhh!" A moan came somewhere from my left. 

I grumbled obscene words and rolled over in my bedroll. I was having a good dream; I dreamt that I was back in the fire nation. I was sitting on the massive royal throne and looking out the window toward the firenation. The view was incredible; it was just as I remembered it. It was a perfect day, the sun was shining and the birds were singing. I was ruling over my subjects, there was no war; everywhere I looked there were smiling people. I wanted desperately to go back to sleep and never wake up.

"UuuuhHHHhhg." The moaning came again.

I turned towards Sokka's bedroll and glared daggers at his back. If he keeps this up, I am most definitely going to kill him. I closed my eyes and tried to relax. I was just starting to dose off again when Sokka moaned loudly. My eyes shot open and I grabbed the first rock I saw. I turned toward Sokka, took aim, and hurled it at him. It hit him hard right in the middle of his back. Sokka's back arched as he cried out in pain.

"Toph!" Sokka screamed.

I had to stop myself from laughing as he blamed it on the wrong person. Toph walked out of her little earth tent looking dazed and sleepy. She slowly trudged her way over to Sokka and stopped right in front of him. The look she was giving him must have been one of pure malice, because a he immediately started to beg for forgiveness. Toph took a step toward him and stomped on the ground and then Sokka went flying. He landed two seconds later directly on his butt and let go a howl of pain.

Aang suddenly jerked up, "Whazzit?" he asked sleepily. His half lidded eyes swept over the camp. He seemed to find nothing wrong with the situation, so he flopped back down in his sleeping bag and fell asleep.

I sighed and sat up in my bed, now that Toph was awake it would be too loud to get more sleep. I rubbed my eyes and stood up to stretch. Sure enough, two seconds later, Toph started to yell at everyone to stop being lazy and get up.

Aang groaned in protest. "C'mon, I didn't get much sleep last night!"

"Now whose fault is that twinkletoes?"

Aang grumpily muttered something about angry spirits and got out of bed. "Weren't we planning on leaving today? I want to get out of here as fast as possible…" His eyes shifted uneasily. "Let's get ready."

I looked at Aang curiously. He has been acting very strange for a few days. He has been jumpy, and whenever someone touched him he would freak out. He was actually scaring me; I actually think that all of the pressure of being the avatar is driving him to lunacy…

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o **

The wind blew through my long hair lazily as I gazed over Appa's saddle. The desert land was barren except for a few scattered cacti; which, for some reason, Sokka was eying strangely.

"I have to go pee…" Sokka announced without a shred of modesty. Appa quickly landed and Sokka scurried off quickly heading for a cactus. I turned around and sighed.

A few minutes later Sokka returned with a triumphant expression on his face. His pupils looked dilated and he swayed as he walked. I studied him curiously; It looked to me like he was drunk. I silently wondered what could have made him like that when suddenly he withdrew a little bowl-like chunk of cactus filled to the brim with liquid. The liquid looked inviting, so I edged myself toward him.

"Can I have a little bit of that?"

"Sssure thing Katara" Sokka slurred.

I took a tiny sip. It had a slightly bitter taste, but it was not all together bad.

Sokka jumped up and practically ran over to where Aang was atop Appa's head. He hugged him tightly from behind. "I love you Aang! You're such a good avatar! I hope you don't end up dying in the end!" Sokka smiled drunkenly at him. Aang stared at Sokka at with a look of complete shock.

He moved over to Toph, who didn't know what was coming due to the vibrations of Appa, and picked her up in a tight hug. "Toph! Even though you're mean and sarcastic, I still love you!!" Sokka put her down, nearly avoiding a punch in the face, and moved to the middle of the saddle.

"I love all of you!" Sokka started to giggle uncontrollably.

"Sokka...are you drunk?" Toph asked from next to me with a devious smile.

"Nope!"

Toph looked at me and whispered "He's definitely drunk…"

"I pictured him as an angry drunk, not an 'I love everyone' drunk…" Toph chuckled at my comment and went back to cleaning her ears. Toph used to repulse me, she has horrible manners, but now I just found everything she does to be incredibly funny. How she feels the need to trip everyone, how she acts, all of the times she messes with Sokka, just make me laugh.

"Aang?" I called over to where he was perched atop Appa's giant head.

"Yup?"

"When are we going to get to the next city?"

"I don't know, why?"

"Never mind." I really just wanted to try to find Iroh. I am really starting to get worried about him.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

I reached for the bucket again and grabbed the wet washcloth. I sighed as I ringed it out and wiped it on my nephews head. He made no movements as I cleaned his away his sweat. A few tears ran down my dirty cheeks as I contemplated the fact that Zuko might never wake up. He had been unconscious for a month now, and he showed no signs of waking.

I remembered how I first found him like this. He had been gone on his walk for a long time and I started getting worried. I went out looking for him. I don't remember how long I was gone, but when I finally found him, time seemed to stop completely as I stared at his body. I rant to his side and made sure he was still alive. His pulse was still there, but just barley. His shirt had been practically burned off, but his skin was unscratched. He had all of the signs of having been hit by lightening. I cursed as I realized that this attack must have been done by Azula.

Now, the only thing I can do would be to wait, maybe, if I'm lucky, he'll wake up.

I sighed and wiped Zuko's brow again. I can't do anything, but maybe someone else can. I immediately started thinking of people that I knew that might be able to help. I could go and look for Song, she was really helpful last time I had that rash. I could go to the White Lotus, but I am in the middle of nowhere, so I doubt they would be here. I suddenly slapped my forehead. I could always go and find the avatar; he had a lovely healer that travels with him. If anyone can help, then it would to be her. The only problem would be to find them.

I have always been an excellent tracker, but I think that even this might be a challenge. I had no leads, and it would be impossible to ask anybody because there are no towns around. The best thing to do would be to get onto and animal and just start searching. I started gathering up our camp and getting our ostridge-horse saddled up. Zuko was really hard to get into the saddle, but I eventually managed and was on my way.

I was about an hour into my ride when I saw it. It was a pile of animal droppings. Usually, I would think nothing of it, but these droppings were huge. It was way too big to be from an elephant-rhino, but it was just about right for that of a flying bison. I smirked to myself and kicked the ostridge into a fast run. I had to be close…

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

"Katara, I'm hungry!" Sokka complained for the fifth time this morning.

"If you say that one more time, you won't get anything." I scolded Sokka.

"Yes _mom._" Sokka joked, ad everyone started laughing. I did too, but then stopped abruptly after a few seconds. It was true. I was becoming their mother. I was becoming exactly what Katara was for them, a mother figure. I cooked for them, I cleaned for them, and I even sewed their clothes for them! I started feeling very dizzy all of the sudden. I massaged my temples in a vain attempt to feel better. But a sudden large crashing sound brought me out of my personal little pity party. I looked just in time to see a person on a large ostridge-horse crash through the clearing. Everyone got into a bending position. The person agilely jumped off the animal and came toward us with his hands raised. I gasped and fell to my knees as I recognized the man. It was uncle Iroh.

Toph was the first to relax; she ran up to Iroh and gave him a big hug, which he returned enthusiastically. Everyone dropped their stances as they looked upon the nice old man.

"Everyone, I need your help. Please." Iroh begged.

"Sure thing Iroh, anything for you, you helped us at the North Pole and at Ba Sing Se!" Aang smiled, "We owe you!"

Iroh smiled his thanks as he went back to the ostridge horse and toward a large lump on its back. I could only watch in horror as Iroh picked up a limp body off of the animal and set it on the ground. I pushed past everyone and gazed into the persons face. The black hair slightly obscured the face, but the scar gave it away. It was me. My body. My pale face.

I was stunned, I really couldn't move. I was glad that uncle was ok, but the shock of seeing my body lying pale and limp was too much for me. My vision started blacking out and the last thing I remember was hitting the ground.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

When I opened my eyes, I seemed to take everything in slowly. I was in what seemed to be a large earth tent, and there was a small fire burning inside. I looked around and nearly jumped when I saw Sokka and Toph.

"Hey! Princess is awake!" Toph yelled to the people who weren't in the tent, and a few seconds later Aang zipped inside, followed closely by uncle Iroh. My eyed widened in shock as I remembered why he was here and my lifeless body. Toph smirked as she heard my heartbeat accelerate.

"Katara, I know you just woke but can you try to heal Zuko? He's not doing too well." Aang said worriedly.

I started shaking as I got up.

Sokka looked worried, "Maybe you should lie down…"

"No, I need to do this." I said more to myself than to Sokka.

I left the tent and walked toward Iroh and my body. He looked up and smiled when I reached him, and moved to the side so I could get a clear view of my body. I opened my waterskin and started examining my body without touching it. I wasn't sure if I was ready for that. I looked ok; it just looked like I was sleeping. I decided that I should probably take my pulse. I tentatively touched my neck, and practically screamed in pain and surprise. A quick and painful shock coursed through my body. I withdrew my hand and stared at it is shock. I looked at Iroh and saw he was looking at me with a peculiar expression.

"What happened?"

"N-nothing…" I looked away from his piercing stare.

I slowly touched the neck again and withdrew my hand quickly expecting pain. Nothing happened so I checked the pulse. The pulse was fine, a little fast, but fine.

"Nothing seems to be the matter; it's as if he's only sleeping."

Iroh looked sad and didn't say anything; he only continued to stare at the body.

I got up and started heading back to the tent. That was like having one of those weird out of body experiences that you hear about, but never have. I decided that I better lie down for a while, at least until I calm down. I came back into the tent to find Aang and Sokka arguing.

"But he helped us before. What am I supposed to do? Tell him to go away?"

"No, Prince Sparky can't stay here!" Sokka yelled.

"Sokka, you're being impossible! They are staying, and that's final!" Aang yelled. It was very rare that Aang ever lost his temper, so Sokka stopped arguing and just left mumbling to himself. I sighed and lay back down in my bed. I decided to try to get some sleep and try to figure out what I am going to do in the morning.

* * *

**Ok, so I now have a vlog on youtube. So if you can check it out!**

www . youtube . com / profile ? user KaitelParest **(remove the spaces)**

**Happy new years eve!!**

**I'm going to go to a dance now! BYE!! **

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	7. The Return

I have gotten caught up in an anime called Beck, I didn't think I would…but I find myself talking to the screen more than I should…I'm the same way with the anime Nodame Cantabile.

* * *

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o **

I woke up with a huge headache. I sat up and rubbed my temples, trying to will the pain away with sheer might.

"Katara!" Aang practically yelled into my ear.

My head throbbed painfully.

"What?" I said asked clenched teeth.

"Iroh told me to come and get you when you wake up. So here I am!"

"What's Iroh doing here?" I asked. I tried to search my brain for any memories of meeting Iroh during my time with the gang. I came up blank.

"You don't remember?" Aang asked curiously. "Well…you were passed out for most of yesterday…" Aang mused to himself. "He came in yesterday with Zuko."

My eyes shot open. I suddenly remembered Iroh crashing through the clearing…my still body lying on the ground…my limp, pale limbs…my pulse. I shuddered even though the hot sun was warming my skin. I really didn't want to touch my body. This was all just too real to me. I realized that I never gave much thought to what happened to my body after my soul left it. I guess I was secretly hoping that Agni had my body and was just saving to for me until I 'changed for the better' as he had put it. It had been a huge shock for me to see myself.

My headache suddenly got worse. Then I suddenly remembered that I'm a waterbender now. I tried to sense any water that might be surrounding ma, and quickly found some in a nearby pot. I summoned it, formed a healing glove, and quickly used it to soothe my throbbing head.

"Katara?" Aang asked.

"Hmm?" I sighed, preoccupied with my healing.

"Zuko…you need to check on him…" Aang reminded me.

I inwardly groaned at the thought. I remembered how the first time I touched my body; it was like I had been zapped by an electric eel-slug. I slowly got up and made my way out of the earth tent. As soon as I came outside, Iroh was by my side. I jumped with surprise. I guess I had been gone so long I had forgotten he frequently did that.

"I have been monitoring him all night. Nothing seems to be wrong with him." Iroh looked very distressed. "I don't know what's wrong with him." I suddenly turned around and gave him a big hug, which surprised both of us. I would have never done something like this a month ago, but now it just seemed natural. Iroh hugged me back, and I suddenly felt tears forming in my eyes. I realized how much Iroh actually cared for me. I knew that he thought of me as his son, but I never really appreciated that fact until now. He had stayed up all night for me, he had taken care of my unconscious body while I was here, and he has been a father to me for most of my life.

I kneeled next to my old body and put my hands on its chest. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the flow of the blood, the beating of the heart, the natural flow of the organs. I sighed as I found out that everything was healthy.

"There seems to be nothing wrong with his body."

"I thought so." Iroh started. My heart thumped quickly in my chest. Did he know something? "I think this has to do with the spirits. Ever since I got here, I have been feeling a presence. I have yet to conclude if the spirit is good or bad. But I do know that the spirit is easy to anger, and most likely has an attitude problem. The spirit also seems to be really jealous about something."

I sighed in relief. I was glad that he didn't know my secret, for now only Toph did. But what was he saying about the spirit? It was jus like Aang said…there is an angry spirit here. I didn't believe it, but if Iroh says it's true, then so do I.

"Does the spirit pose any threat?" I asked uncertainly.

"I don't think so." Iroh said thoughtfully.

"Excuse me. I have to go and fix breakfast before Sokka dies of starvation…" As if on cue, Sokka yelled from inside the earth tent to hurry up and fix breakfast. I restrained myself from punching his face in and just concentrated on not burning the rice.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

"We have to walk?!" Sokka complained. ""here, I have an idea. Why don't we just leave Zuko here and go on without him. At least that way we can still fly!"

"Shut up!" I yelled. I was getting angry at the constant jabs that he was sending toward my character.

"Once he wakes up, he's just going to attack us again. It'll be like Ba Sing Se all over again!"

"It won't be like Ba Sing Se again! He probably changed!" I lost my temper and yelled at Sokka. I glanced at Iroh and saw him staring at me with curiosity.

"Maybe he didn't!" Sokka challenged.

I yelled right back. "Well _maybe_ he feels bad about what happened, and wants to teach Aang firebending! _Maybe_ he's changed for sure this time, and feels really bad about what happened in Ba Sing Se! _Maybe_ he has had a horrible childhood, and is just easily confused!" Tears welled up in my eyes for the first time in 5 months. I wiped them away hastily; embarrassed of the fact that everything that I said was true. Oh geese, I thought, not only am I acting like their mother, but now I'm acting like a girl…boys don't cry…no, _men_ don't cry…

"Ok, ok, Katara. No need to get all worked up over this. Calm down."

"Yeah Katara, your acting like you actually forgive him." Aang joked.

"What do you mean?" I asked curiously.

"After I woke up, I remember you being sad and angry at Zuko; you said he betrayed you and your trust."

"You barely seem to be getting over it about two months ago." Sokka added from ahead of the trail.

"I'm sorry my nephew caused so much trouble for you guys, he was truly just doing what he thought was right at the time. My nephew…is a very troubled man..."

I stopped listening at this point and just tried to concentrate on something, anything, which would take my mind off of my past.

"You know…you could always talk to me about it." Toph whispered from my side.

"Thank you Toph, but not right now, maybe later."

"Ok." and then she left.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

Sokka yawned loudly as we ate our dinner of rice and stew.

"Did you see me?" Sokka asked for the millionth time.

"yeah." I grunted.

"The thing was huge! IT came charging at me, and I had only a second to react, so I quickly pulled out my club and whacked it on the head."

"Good job." I grunted again. If Sokka talks about his hunting trip one more time, I am going to hit him. He was so proud that he finally caught a monkey-dog, he had been bragging ever since he got back. But the worst part about it was that Iroh seemed proud of him.

"You are truly a warrior!" Iroh laughed. "I surely couldn't do that!" I didn't feel the need to say that not only could Iroh do it, but he could face a whole army of Monkey-dogs and come out of it without a scratch. I chuckled to myself.

"Thank you!"

"Urrggghh!" Iroh groaned when he stretched his stiff muscles. "I'm going to go and try to find some hot springs. You never know, there might be some close by." Iroh got up and left with a towel and extra robe.

"See Toph, Iroh appreciates my talents!"

"Whatever Sokka."

"Toph, Toph, Toph…you really should have been there. It was great."

"…"

"I mean, it was coming strait at me! With no time to waist, I–AHHH!!!!" The rock hit him right between the eyes. "What the hell was that for?!"

"It's because you won't shut up!"

"That doesn't mean you have to start throwing rocks!"

"I'm getting a headache guys…" I stated feebly.

"Well then stop bragging!"

"I wasn't bragging!"

"Yes you were!"

"I was merely reenacting my hunt, nothing more- AHHHH!" Another rock between the eyes. "Will you stop that?!"

"JUST SHUT UP!" I screamed at both of them.

"What?" They both said in unison.

"You never stop arguing! You act like an old married couple!"

"Don't be stupid." Sokka replied.

"Ha! You're telling me not to be stupid?!"

"Aang," Sokka turned over to Aang who had been avoiding the conflict be playing with Appa, "Tell Katara she's wrong." Sokka looked at him expectantly.

"Well, Sokka…" Aang seemed to be choosing his words carefully. "You two do fight and bicker a lot…" Aang looked away.

Toph blushed and looked away from Aang. All of my anger disappeared as I looked at Toph. She was totally in love with Sokka; everyone knew that, well…except for Sokka…Sokka was always oblivious to everything.

"So, when's Iroh getting back?" Toph said, trying to change the subject.

"I don't know," I answered, pitying her, "he has been gone for a while though…Should we look for him?" After I thought about it I smirked. "Never mind, he's the dragon of the west, he will be fine."

I got up and went over to where my body was laying. I looked so pale and hopeless, it was really depressing. I wondered when I would be able to go back to my body. I wanted all of my strength back, I wanted my firebending back, but most of all…I wanted to stop getting cramps. I grabbed my abdomen and moaned. I would never mock a woman and her dammed monthly cycles ever again; at least I'm certain of that. I grabbed my body's hand and lifted it up, a few seconds later I dropped it. It fell limply.

"We should figure something out soon; you don't look so good…" Toph said indicating my body lying on the ground.

"I know, but what can I do? I'm sure the really Katara could have done something, she at least knew how to heal properly."

Toph stayed quiet and sat down next to me.

Suddenly she was up.

"We got to go now!" She screamed at the group.

Sokka looked up immediately. "What? Why?"

"Someone's coming, and their coming fast. We need to pack up now." She ran to her back and threw it up onto Appa. I was never one to disagree with Toph, so I was up and gathering my stuff in a matter of seconds. I saw Sokka doing the same.

Suddenly, I remembered something. "What about Iroh?! I'm not leaving without him!"

"But we have to go!" Sokka yelled at me.

"I'm not leaving until he gets back!" I looked to Toph. "How long do we have?"

"It's already too late." She got into a bending position and faced the far end of the clearing.

"Well, that was interesting…" A familiar voice came from the edge of the clearing. I know that voice. For the past four years, that voice has been in my nightmares. Every time I hear that voice…it always brings death and destruction.

I turned around slowly, not really wanting to believe she was there. Her golden eyes locked on to my azure ones, and then I knew it was too late to run.

* * *

**R&R!! **

MUAHAHAhahaha! A cliffe! I'm evil...

I'm sad cuz I only got one review for my last chapter...so if you want the next chapter up so you can find out what happened any time soon, you should review...


	8. The Battle

**I told you in the first chapter of the story that the title was subject to change (because I really couldn't think of a title when i had to) so I finally changed it to something more fitting. **

**Vimuku**: (Bows down to the awesomeness that is you.) But aren't you happy that this chap is longer??!? I did it just for you…cough cough p.s. - I'll send you the story ya need to beta for me soon, so be on the lookout! You know the one…wink wink nudge nudge lol

**Fabwishes**: yay! Thankies!

**Luiz4200**: Your awesome cuz you review on like every chapter, so thank you very much!

**Lw**: Okay! Here you go!

**Kitkat1327**: Okey dokey!

**bLaHBuR**: I have always thought it would be funny to have Toph like be the unofficial guard dog.

**Warning: there is bad language in this chapter (but none of it was unprovoked) lol **

* * *

I blinked my eyes a couple of times. I was so sure that this was just another nightmare, that I would have pinched myself if Toph hadn't sent a boulder to protect me from a fireball that was surely aimed to incapacitate me. I jumped into action and summoned any water I could sense from my surroundings. I ended up grabbing some from my water skin, and a few pots. It wasn't much, but I was sure I wouldn't be fighting for long anyway. If I had my firebending, then I might stand a better chance. 

I was the first to react. I sent a whip towards her, and she deflected it easily. Everyone seemed to jump into action after that.

Mai threw a knife, with an unimaginable speed, aiming at my neck. I didn't have enough time to dodge the attack, so all I could do is lean back and pray to Agni that she misses. I felt the knife cut through my skin, it burned as it went through. I brought my hang up to the gash at my neck, and thanked Agni that it had just gave a cut instead of decapitating me. It became clear to me that they didn't care if anyone of us died; the only thing that matters to them is capturing the avatar. If we get in the way, like we are trying to do now, we will get killed. And I would rather not get killed…again. I was past the point of running away though, I can't leave them here. I did not want my father to have him. That would be a fate worse than death.

I looked at my hand and saw the blood. My eyes narrowed into slits and I summoned the water. I reached out with the water and froze her feet to the ground. Her eyes widened as she reached into her sash and threw a needle at me. I felt it pierce my thigh, but I couldn't react to the pain, I needed to concentrate on my bending. She narrowed her eyes and threw another one at me, which hit my other leg. I let out a small grunt of pain, but I didn't relax my stance. Finally, I brought my upraised arms up slightly, testing if the water would do what I willed it to. I jerked my arms down hard, and brought them back up in a circular motion. The giant mass of water swept under her with such force that she slammed hard into the ground. She let out a small scream as the water swept back over her and came crashing down on her in a solid block of water. She didn't get back up.

I didn't bother worrying about the fact if she was dead or not, I just wanted to make sure everyone was ok. I looked at everyone else and sighed in relief. Everyone seemed to be holding their own. Sokka was fighting Ty Lee with only one functioning arm, but he still wasn't in need of help. Both Toph and Aang were fighting Azula together.

I watched them fight. Azula was more then a match for them, she was agile and quick. Aang and Toph both attacked her, sending a boulder and a gust of wind at the same time. She jumped over the boulder, and then used it as leverage to jump over the wind that quickly followed. Sweat started forming on Toph and Aang as fatigue set in.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Ty Lee Jumped out of the trees toward Toph. Before she landed on the ground, which would have made her presence known, she pinched the joint in Toph's neck then landed gracefully next to her. Toph fell limply to the ground and didn't get back up. I rushed over to her side, oblivious to the surrounding battles. "Toph! Are you okay?" I yelled.

"I can't move…and I can't breathe, get off me!" she yelled at me. I looked down and noticed that I was leaning on her ribs, and moved it immediately. "Forget about me, Sokka and Aang need your help! I'll be able to move eventually, give me 10 minutes and I'll kick her ass."

I looked around and saw that Sokka also lost the ability to move one of his legs. She was about to hit Sokka's other arm when I hit her with a water whip. I got her on the neck and she cried out with pain. She spun around and glared at me with narrowed eyes. She started flipping toward me and I had to think fast. While she was still in the air, I calculated where she would have to land in order to do another flip, and then froze some water I that spot. She landed on the ice and slipped, she fell hard on her butt. She let out a yelp of pain, and started rubbing at the spot with tears forming at her eyes. I summoned water and froze her whole body to the ground.

I quickly ran over to where Aang and Azula were fighting. I attacked her by hurtling an ice dagger at her while she was fighting Aang. She sent a fireball directly at it without even taking her eyes off of Aang. I sent a few more, hoping to distract her so Aang could attack her. This time she sent a wall of blue fire at me. The daggers sizzled and evaporated pathetically. I had to quickly draw up a wall of water to block the fire. It came at me quickly, and evaporated the whole wall of water I was using as a shield. The steam burned my skin, and I screamed in pain.

"Katara!" Aang shouted.

Azula attacked while he was distracted. She sent a ball of fire toward him, and it hit him square in the chest. He flew back and hit the trunk of a tree. He sagged to the ground, unconscious.

Azula allowed herself a small smirk, and sauntered toward his limp body. I got back up, and started running toward Aang. My skin felt too tight where it had burnt and I could feel blisters forming, but I didn't care. I had to keep her away from Aang. I jumped in front of Azula and got into a bending stance. She rolled her eyes in annoyance and got into a bending stance as well.

"You know, I only wanted Aang." She said in a sigh. "But now…I'm just going to have to kill you…"

"I already died once bitch, I'm not afraid of you." I spat at her and laughed manically. I didn't know where this new courage came from, but I didn't want it to leave. If I wanted to defeat Azula, then I would need all of the courage I could muster.

Azula's eyes narrowed into slits. "How dare you!" She yelled in fury and threw herself at me.

I was always considered good at hand to hand combat. I used to train everyday, and worked out until I had lots of upper body strength. But that was before I became a skinny girl. It was hard to block Azula's fast and well thought out moves. Her cold and calculating style was frightening. She kicked through my defenses and punched me square in the chest. I stumbled back and tripped over a rock. I landed on my burned arm and cried out in pain. She made a pair of fire daggers and slowly advanced on me.

"You know…I heard you are a master waterbender. That's funny; really, I thought you would at least be better than my brother." Azula mocked.

That, for me, was the last straw. I summoned water from behind Azula, chilled it until it was like snow, and flung it at her head. The impact made the top half of her body to lurch forward, causing her to fall.

I quickly scrambled to my feet and walked over to where she lies dazed.

"This is for all of those lies and countless years of torment!" I yelled. I kicked her in the side, and she groaned in pain.

"This is for Aang, Sokka, and Toph." I kicked her again and she rolled over.

"This is for killing me." I kicked her as hard as I could.

I kneeled next to her and grabbed her collar. "And this is because I just don't like you." I punched her hard in the face.

Blood oozed from a cut on Azula's cheek as I glared at her unconscious form. Suddenly realization hit me like a slap in the face. What have I done? Is Azula dead? I let go of her as if she was on fire and scrambled away. I hated my sister, but that didn't mean I wanted to kill her. I did not want to become like her. I tentatively reached out and felt her neck. A pulse beat strongly under my fingertips. Relieved, I left her and ran over to Aang. I lightly slapped his cheek, hoping that he would wake up. He moaned lightly and turned his head away from me. I summoned some water and splashed him in the face with it. He opened his eyes and coughed out the water.

"Katara?" He asked drowsily.

"Aang, we have to get out of here before Azula and everyone waked up!" I said while pulling him to his feet.

"Ok, just a sec…"

"We don't have a second! We have to go now!"

"Ok, I'm just a little dizzy."

"Urgh!" I groaned. I sat Aang back on the ground and went alone. He was too out of it to be any assistance.

I ran over to where Toph lay. "Toph, are you okay? Can you move yet?"

"I can move my fingers and toes, but I'm still working on the rest of me." She wiggled her toes as proof.

"Alright, I'll carry you to Appa, and then get Sokka and Aang. We need to get out of here quickly." I picked up Toph and ran toward where Appa was. I climbed up his giant tail and place her in the saddle. "I'll get the other two, and then I'll be back."

I ran over to where Sokka was sitting under a tree, trying to beat his legs into working again. "C'mon we got to go now." I looped his arm around me neck and helped him onto Appa.

I started running over to Aang. I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked around just in time to dodge a ball of blue fire. Azula was practically snarling at me from where she knelt. "You will die!" She screamed at me.

She stood up and sparks formed at her fingertips. She touched them together and brought them up to the sky. She brought them down in arcs and stepped forward with her arms outstretched sending lightning directly at me. I didn't have time to move, or even scream. Right before the lightening hit me, Iroh's face popped into my mind. I extended my arm toward the oncoming lightening and smirked. It coursed through my arm, then to my stomach, avoiding my heart, then out my other arm directly at Azula. Her eyes widened in fear as she tried to get out of the way in time. She could only move about a foot out of the way before it hit her in the arm. She fell, withering in pain.

"Aang!" I yelled and ran for him.

"No, I'll be fine. Get Zuko." Aang said while trying to stand up.

I couldn't believe that I almost forgot my body. I ran over to where my body lies, still cold and still, and try to pick it up. The dead weight proved to be way too heavy for me, so I had to result to dragging my body. I cringed as I dragged the body over rock, I would have gone around it, but I was in a hurry. I was about ten feet from both Aang and Appa when it happened.

Azula suddenly jumped up and sparks flew at her fingertips as she started forming lightening. I whipped around facing Aang, who was oblivious to Azula, and was just trying to stand up without falling. Azula stared at Aang with a look I recognized. A smirk, the exact one she gave me before she killed me. Without even thinking, I dropped my body. I dove for Aang just as lightening burst from her fingertips. I hit Aang hard, pushing him out of the way. The lightening struck me dead on. I heard shouts as I fell backwards, but I couldn't tell who it was from. I hit the ground hard, my eyes slowly slipped shut, and everything went dark.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

I was back in the lukewarm lake. Water surrounded me completely, it was in my nose, ears, eyes, but it still didn't bother me. I knew what would happen next. I'd have to kick my way to the surface, and then get yelled at by the god of fire. I died instead of doing what I was supposed to do. Well personally, I'd rather stay right here. It's pretty comfortable once you get used to it. There's practically no light, but you don't need it because it's not like you need to do anything in the water.

This is just depressing. I already died once, and when I get a second chance, I just go and die again. I was beginning to think that the whole world was against me. I relaxed my body and just let myself float there.

Suddenly, I started to feel a pulling sensation in my stomach. At first it was like an annoying itch, but then it grew and I started rising to the surface. I started resisting; I tried swimming the opposite way. I didn't want to go up there; I wanted to stay here until I looked like a raisin. But the annoying tug wouldn't let me. It kept pulling, and no matter what I did to resist, it wouldn't let me. I gave up and let the pull take me away. It's not very easy to resist the pull of Agni. And even if I could, what would I do then. Would I really be able to stay down there for eternity? Not likely. So I just gave up. I thought of my first time here, how hard I had to work to get to the surface, and then saw myself now. Why couldn't Agni have done this the first time I came here? He probably enjoyed watching me struggle and suffer. Agni is a secret sadist, I thought to myself. I chuckled at my lame joke.

I broke through the surface, and tried to cough up all of the water out of my lungs. By now I wasn't really in the best mood ever, so I grumbled as I got to my feet. I thought dying would have been a slightly more pleasant thing to do…well, not the dying itself, but the part after that. I remember that I used to think that after you died, you would go to a paradise of some sorts. Not a freaking dark and dingy cave.

I looked around at the cave. Nothing much had changed. It was still scarcely lit, casting creepy shadows on the walls. The walls were wet and grimy, and were starting to mold in some place. I would hate to touch the walls; I would imagine them to feel like fish for some reason. Slimy or something like that. I seemed to be all alone, so I took the time to explore the cave fully. It was completely sealed off; the only entrance seemed to be the lake. I sighed, seems like there would be no escapes for me. Stalagmites hung from the ceiling of the cave and I started getting a little paranoid that they might fall and spear me through the head. I laughed at myself. Why am I afraid of getting killed, when I'm already dead? Again…I reminded myself.

By then I was starting to get a little bored and impatient. I'm stuck here with nowhere to go, couldn't someone at least left me a game to play or something? Anything?! I decide to test out a few things that had been plaguing my mind since I got here. I sat down and looked at my arm, and was ecstatic to see that this was my body. I didn't know why I hadn't noticed it earlier, but I had my old body back. I smiled and flexed my arms. This was much better. But back to business. I reached out me arm and pinched it really hard. I felt nothing. I did it again, but even harder. Still nothing. I sighed, now that I had that out of my system I had nothing to do. I was not looking forward to this. With my mind left to wander, I was prone to think about things I didn't want to.

My mind went strait to the fight I had just fought. It had been a good fight, I had not given up. I had put up a giant fight; I died with honor, a warrior's death. I was just glad that my final act was not only to protect the avatar, but also to foil Azula's plans one last time. I hoped she was angry with me. It only sucked because she would be angry with Katara not me. I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"Zuko." An old familiar voice said. I looked up into the eyes of Agni, the fire god. He reached toward me and gave me a big hug.

"That's it? You're not going to yell at me?" I asked him. I thought he would scold me on how horrible my mission went, and that he never should have given me a second chance.

"Why would I do that?" he answered simply.

"Well...I died…" I answered as if it should have been obvious.

"So?"

"…" I couldn't think of anything to say.

Agni chuckled lightly before talking again. "What was the one task I gave you?"

I thought for a moment. "To change for the better."

"And did you?"

"I don't know! Did I?" I was starting to get impatient. I wished he would just get to the point and put me out of my misery.

"How did you die?"

"Azula hit me with the lightening…"

"But why?"

"Because I stepped in front of the avatar?" I phrased my answer in a question.

"Would you have done that a few months ago?"

I thought carefully for a second. I knew I wouldn't have wanted him to die, but would I have really died for him? Before I became Katara, I wasn't his friend, so I probably wouldn't have. "No." I answered.

"That was your task; you're test you could say."

"My task? Wait…so you sent me down there so I could save Aang when Azula came again?"

"I sent you down there so you could have a second chance. But yes, that was part of it."

"Couldn't Katara have done it? You could have just given me my body back; I would have still done it…"

"There are two problems with that," Agni began, "Katara wouldn't have done it. She would not have been able to defeat Azula like you did. She is to kind to show that rage that led to her defeat. Katara would have sacrificed her life for avatar Aang, but she never would have gotten the chance to do it unless Azula had gotten beaten." He smiled at me warmly.

"What's the other problem?" I asked, already knowing what was sure to come.

Agni laughed lightly. "You know what I'm going to say." My suspicions were confirmed. "You know that if I had given you back your body, you would have never gone to find the avatar. By giving you Katara's body, I insured that you wouldn't go anywhere but the place you were welcome. You have too much pride to go into public as a girl, you simply wouldn't do it." He took a breath and continued. "Anyway, the avatar's group wouldn't have fully accepted and trusted you as Zuko, that's why I sent you as Katara."

"That's not true, Toph accepted me…"

"Yes, but here lies the question…have you ever wronged her like you did the avatar and his friends?" His logic was undeniable.

"No." I looked down at my feet, trying to hide my embarrassment. "So what now?"

"I will give you your body back after the battle has been decided."

"How long will that be?"

He smiled. "I froze time on earth so I could have this talk with you, but the fight won't last long."

"Is there any way I could watch it?" I asked eagerly.

Out of nowhere, a great stone basin appeared in front of us. It was beautiful. The basin looked as if it was hundreds of years old. There was a wood chipped away in a few places, and there were scorch marks in a few spots. It glowed brightly, it seemed as if there were gems on the surface, but when I reached out and toughed it, it was very smooth. As I looked at it even further, I noticed how battered it seemed. It was as if it had been fought over for a very long time.

"What is this, sir?" I asked trying to be as polite as possible.

"This is how I see everything that is going on in the human world when I don't feel like going there myself." He chuckled merrily. I was beginning to like him again, he really reminded me of uncle. Wait…where is uncle? Why didn't he come back when everyone started fighting?

"Sir, what happened to Iroh?"

He chuckled again. "Iroh hasn't slept in days; he had been too busy worrying about you. So when he went to the springs, he simply fell asleep."

"He fell asleep? Couldn't you have woken him up?" I was close to laughing.

"I would have, had it been necessary."

"So, you knew exactly how everything would turn out the whole time?!"

"I'm a god for a reason…" he joked with me.

"Whatever…just show me what happens to everyone else." He raised one eyebrow at me. "Please?"

"Come here my child."

I sat next to Agni. I looked into the silvery liquid in the basin. Suddenly our campsite appeared inside of it. I saw Katara's body lying lifeless in the dirt and cringed, I felt a little sorry for her. I mean I killed her body. I quickly averted my gaze and looked around for Aang, but before I found him, I spotted something more interesting.

"What's that?" I said pointing to a white figure on the battle ground. It seemed to be looking at Katara's body.

"Look closer and you tell me."

I focused in on the figure. I could tell from the shape and build of the body that she was a girl. She seemed to be wearing a tunic and pants, but as to what color they were, I couldn't say. There was a light radiating within her that distorted all color. The girl had a long braid that reached about mid back. It was when I noticed the hair loops that I slapped myself as I realized it must be Katara.

"Has she been there the entire time?" It creped me out to think that I have had a spirit watching me the whole time I had been Katara. I smiled to myself as I remembered that Iroh had said that she was prone to anger, had jealousy issues, and had an attitude problem. I started laughing loudly.

"Not the whole time, but close to it."

"Okay." I said after I stopped laughing. "I'm ready to see what happens." I gazed into the basin. The scene jumped to life. Azula knelt in the same spot she killed me from laughing manically. Aang had a look of pure anguish on his face.

"Katara…" her name came out of Aang's mouth in a whoosh of air.

"Awe. Did I kill your little wench?" Azula mocked coolly. Aang's arrows immediately began to glow.

"No! Don't provoke him! He'll kill you!" Sokka yelled from atop the saddle. He seemed to be able to move again, he was trying to keep Toph from jumping to his aid.

"Don't make me laugh, I can take him. He'll rot away in my father's prison for all I care." She shot a string of blue fire balls at his head. Aang jerked up his chin and a huge wall of water raised up to shield him. Her laughter died immediately.

Toph struggled to get free. "Toph, no. He's not himself right now."

"But Aang…"

"No. We need to get to safety."

"But your sister is down there too!" She yelled at him.

"I know." A pained expression crossed his face and a tear slipped from his eye, but a few seconds later it was gone. "But we need to get out of here before it's too late." And with that, Sokka and Toph flew to safety on Appa.

A strong blast of wind hit Azula and she quickly tried to shield herself with her arms. The wind was billowing around Aang and debris was flying everywhere. I had never seen Aang like this. This was different from those times when Aang was in the avatar state. This was different from the caves. He looked like a caged animal ready to strike. He looked like he really could kill Azula. I could tell that he was already too far gone; he was not going to hold back on her.

Azula shot lightening at Aang; it went straight toward his chest. Aang quickly made a thick wall of earth rise from the ground and block her attack. The lightning dissipated on contact. Azula created two fire whips and came at Aang with them. Aang hit the ground hard and sent water to where Azula was standing. The dirt under Azula turned into thick mud, and she became stuck. She narrowed her eyes at Aang and began trying to get herself out of the mud. Aang picked up a huge rock with his earthbending and hurled it at Azula. It hit Azula in the chest and knocked her backwards. She gasped for breath. Azula stood up again and jumped out of her shoes, leaving them stuck in the mud. She landed on dry dirt and smirked.

"Is that all you got?" She taunted him. She started laughing but stopped short and cringed. She started rubbing her stomach automatically. She got into a bending stance and waited for him to move first.

Aang narrowed his eyes and ran with lightening speed toward her. She tried to fire whip him in the head, but he was too fast and dodged it easily. He was over her at once, his foot stepping down hard on Azula's leg. I heard the snap loudly and clearly. Azula couldn't hold back her scream of agony. Azula fell to her knees and Aang advanced on her once again.

"Wait!" Azula yelled desperately. "Please, don't kill me. I don't want to die." Tears leaked from Azula's eyes as she buried her face in her hands. "I'll leave you alone and stop hunting you," she sobbed "just let me live."

Aang faltered in his advance. I could tell that Aang took pity in her. Aang narrowed his eyes. "If I let you go, then I better not see your face ever again." Aang said in an unearthly voice.

Azula took her face out of her hands. "Okay! Thank you so much!"

Aang turned and walked away. His tattoos still glowing. Azula smirked and shot lightening at him. Aang rolled away, as if he half expected the attack, and sent an ice dagger at Azula. It hit her in the stomach, and blood leaked from her wound. She grunted in pain and tried to stand up, but Aang was already there. She got up and tried to run, actually hop, away but he grabbed her wrist and roughly yanked her back. I heard a snap and then she cried out in pain as I was sure she felt a blinding pain surge through her wrist. Now she could only bend with one hand. She tried to send fire balls to his face with her other hand, but he caught it mid air and fire spat pathetically from her fingertips.

"This is your end." He said in the voice of a thousand avatars.

Azula's face took upon itself a look of pure terror as he formed a hard block of ice. He flung it at her and it hit her on the side of the face. I heard a faint snap. She fell to the ground and didn't move. Aang's tattoos flickered back to their usual blue and he collapsed next to her.

The scene faded to black and then to silver. I looked up into Agni's face and a single tear leaked down my cheek.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o **

* * *

**WOOT! Sorry guys, but there is only going to be one more chapter in this story. I might do a sequel though, that is if there are enough of you that want one.**

**OMG! I had so much freaking fun writing this chapter! YEAH! Oh, and sorry I killed Azula, but she deserved it. She's so tricky and underhanded. Ok guys, this has to be the longest chapter I have written so far, you happy?**

**So review and tell me what you thought of my fight scene and chapter. Hope you liked it!**

**p.s.- I have this other story that I worked on a long ass time ago (a Zutara one) and i finally found it. Should I put it up? Its all pre third season though...**

**p.p.s.- I dont know when I can post up the next chapter. I will be working on it, but I have finals this week and next week so...**


	9. The end of it all

**I'm going to cry...the story is finally done!**

** Yay! Now I can finally study for finals without thinking about this damn story!**

* * *

"Are you ready to go back?" Agni asked me.

"Yes sir!" I replied excitedly.

"Ok, but before you go, I have to say something to you." He started looking very serious. "I'm not going to tell you what to do when you get your body back. That is up to you. But I want you to look back to what you were like a few months ago, and then compare yourself to how you are right now. Then choose your path Zuko."

I took his advice and thought about myself. I remembered back to when I first got banished. That was where it all began. I had been horrible to my crew; I'm surprised they didn't throw me overboard. The only thing keeping them from mutiny was my uncle Iroh. I was mean to my crew, arrogant, and rude. These thoughts made me cringe. I attacked Aang and his companions without any compassion or without any regrets. I believed that capturing Aang would actually bring me my honor back. I hurt him and his friends and terrorized many innocent people. But after I got branded as a traitor I slowly began to change, I thought a little different, I treated others differently. That little bit of humility that smacked me in the face. Even though I still went after Aang, I was slowly loosing my motivation.

Then, at Ba Sing Se, my whole world got turned upside-down. There, I realized that even though I have this scar, people didn't judge me by it. They thought no less of me. After my transformation, I actually started enjoying life. My sickness was a good thing, a wakeup call you could say. Then after the cave incident, I realized that the thing now making me bad, my trigger you could say, was my sister. She manipulated me into helping her, she gave me false promises and half truths and I believed her.

I made my decision. "I'm ready to go back now."

He came over and embraced me in a warm hug. My old reflexes told me to struggle away from his gasp, but my new self told me to take it. I really needed a hug right now. I relaxed and hugged him back. "Good luck." He whispered into my ear. I suddenly saw a huge flash of bright white light, and was blinded temporarily. I groaned and became aware of the feeling of movement. Almost like I was flying. I waited until my vision came back. I heard an animalistic groan and my eyes snapped open. The sky flew by above my head. I rubbed my eyes and sat up. My whole body had become stiff from two months of lying stationary. I arched my back and it popped satisfactorily.

"He's awake!" Toph yelled excitedly. I looked around and saw her smiling face. Good to have you back." Toph whispered.

Next to her was Iroh. Tears were streaming down his face as he looked at me. I began to get choked up and cleared my throat. I could tell that Iroh was restraining himself from hugging me. It pained my heart as I realized that I had been denying his affection for so long, that he didn't want to try anymore. A tear fell out of my good eye as I lunged at him. I covered the small distance between us quickly, hugging him fiercely. "I missed you." My voice cracked with emotion. I wasn't saying how much I missed him for the past two months; I was kind of apologizing for missing him my whole life. He seemed stunned for a few moments, but he quickly recovered. He hugged me back tightly.

I looked up into his loving face.

"And I have missed you, my son." He hugged me once more.

We separated and I looked around Appa's saddle for everyone else. Sokka was sitting atop Appa's massive head, steering the beast through the sky. Aang lie unconscious on the saddle. His chest rose and fell with each breath. His face looked peaceful. You would have never guessed that this innocent little kid just killed someone. He took a deep breath and exhaled heavily. Katara was lying parallel next to him, and she wasn't moving. I felt a pang of guilt; it was my fault she was like this now. I crawled to my former body and sat down next to it. I could feel two sets of eyes on me as I felt for a pulse. I sighed in relief; her pulse was strong and steady. It was as if she was sleeping. Toph joined me by her side.

"We're not going to tell him about Azula, it would kill him. If he found out what he did to her… he would never forgive himself." She said solemnly.

"Is that really ok? I'm sure he would want to know…" I know I would want to know if I killed someone. The knowledge would definitely eat him up inside, but he would be better off knowing. I would rather him find out from us, than anyone else.

"No, not yet. Maybe later, but not now." Toph head dropped and she looked at Aang.

Suddenly, a fist made contact with my chin. I fell backwards and landed on my back. My head throbbed painfully. I looked around wildly for the source of the punch, but I didn't need to. A second later Katara jumped on me and started hitting me (though thankfully she didn't punch). I pushed her off and got on her. I glared at her as I held her down. "What the hell! Why did you just punch me?" I screamed at her. She narrowed her eyes fiercely at me and struggled to get free. She snarled at me and with strength I didn't know she had, she pushed me off of her. She was just about to throw herself at me again, but Iroh locked his strong arms around her. She shrugged feebly and then gave up when she realized how strong Iroh was.

"You know why." She said through clenched teeth. "It's your fault!"

"Now young lady…" Iroh cut in. "According to Toph, Zuko saved Aang. This isn't his fault."

"I'm not talking about Aang! He'll be fine, I'm talking about…" her eyes shifted between Toph and Iroh. "URGHH! I feel so violated!" she screamed at me.

Iroh raised his eyebrows and Toph started cracking up. "Oh gods…That- that's great!" Toph said between each fit of laughter.

"Are you questioning my honor as a man? You think I did something to dishonor you or myself?!" I started to get angry. I know that she and I don't have the best relationship, but…well, that's my fault really. I was the one who followed her and her friends all over the world, and then I betrayed her trust in Ba Sing Se. She expects the worst in me, and it's my fault. "Listen, I would never do something like that to you."

Her top lip raised in a snarl. "Like I'm going to believe you after what you did to me, what you did to all of us. You disgust me."

"What is the problem here young lady? If you aren't yelling at Zuko for what happened in the clearing, and then what are you yelling at him for?" Iroh interjected.

"Katara-" I began, but was cut short.

"Don't call my name like you know me." Her glare was like ice.

"Ok…um, will you talk with me over there?" I used my hand to shield my mouth as I mouthed the word 'alone'. I pointed to the end of the saddle farthest from Iroh. Toph was over there, but it didn't matter, she already knew everything.

She glanced at Iroh, and then back at me. She nodded her head curtly and crawled over the place I indicated.

"Now you better tell me what the hell has been going on these past 2 months, or else…" she threatened menacingly.

"Ok…" I thought about all that had happened in the past couple of months. "This all started when Azula killed me..." I told her everything from the moment I died, until I woke up in the saddle. I told her about the conversation I had with Agni and how I saw the fight through a wooden basin.

Katara's harsh expression softened slightly. "Zuko, if your-" she didn't get to finish her sentence. Suddenly a body came hurtling out of nowhere, it landed on her with enough force to knock her flat. My eyes widened when I was that it was Sokka. I glanced over to Appa, no one was steering him. I scrambled over to his head and picked up his reigns. I looked over my shoulder and saw Sokka hugging her fiercely. I smirked and went back to steering Appa. I didn't really know where to go, so I started leading Appa to the ground. I listened in on what Katara and Sokka said.

"Katara!" Sokka's voice was choked with emotion. "I thought you were dead! You're so brave, Katara, you saved Aang's life!"

Katara didn't reply for a while. I looked at her and saw that she was looking at me. Sokka was engulfing her in a big hug. She looked overwhelmed. It looked like Sokka didn't usually, or willingly, show this much affection toward Katara. When I was inside Katara's body, I don't remember him ever trying to hug me. Not that I would have let him. I also remembered how he never helped me cook, he was always sleeping. Sokka took advantage of his sister, and I think that he was finally realizing this. Sokka sniffed and let go of her. He laughed a little. I couldn't help noticing that he left behind a wet spot of tears on Katara's tunic. "Heh." Katara whipped at her teary eyes. "You can't get rid of me that easily…"

"So are you okay? Do you hurt anywhere? You _did_ get hit by lightening…" Sokka looked her over a few times to make sure she didn't have any injuries.

"I'm fine; I just have a major headache." Katara rubbed her temples.

"The gods must really be on your side Katara. Its weird, Azula's lightening should have killed you. She wasn't holding back, I know it, I saw everything." Another tear leaked from his eye. She hugged him again.

Katara looked at me and I turned back to steer Appa. "Yes, it was a miracle."

Appa spotted a clearing in the trees and headed toward it in a slow downward spiral. Appa landed and everyone got off him. Sokka carried Aang off Appa's saddle. Katara grabbed a bed roll off of Appa's saddle and laid it neatly on the ground. Sokka put him in the bed roll gently, trying not to disturb his sleep like rest. Everyone gathered around Aang and watched as Katara formed a healing glove. She placed it on his forehead and it glowed brightly. Aang's eyebrows furrowed and he breathed in sharply then relaxed again. Aang's eyes opened slowly. His eyes searched the faces of the circle and a sad smile appeared on his lips. Katara smiled at him and his eyed filled with tears. Katara gave him a big hug and helped him to sit up. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm ok; I'm just a little dizzy…" Aang looked down, more tears forming in his eyes. "Um, did I- Azula...is she-" Aang couldn't finish.

I looked at Katara. I tried to convey my message through my eyes. _He knows._

"Aang…she-" Katara looked at Sokka, he nodded. "Yes, she's dead."

Aang choked out a small sob. "I remember everything." Aang's voice was choked with emotion. "It was like I was watching someone else do it. Not me. I could have never done that." Large tears rolled down his cheeks. "The monks always taught that life's were important, and not to be taken away by anyone other than the gods. But I killed her."

"Aang." I said. He looked up at me, there was no trace of the resentment that I would have thought would be there. "It had to be done. She would have killed us all." I took his hand in mine, something I would have never usually done. Being a girl for a few months definitely had its drawbacks. "You did the right thing."

Aang looked into my eyes and hugged me tightly. I was momentarily stunned. Sokka narrowed his eyes at me and put his hand on his war club. I put my hands in front of me to tell him to stop. Katara put her hand on his arm and shook her head. His eyes narrowed at me and his hand moved away. I put my arms around Aang in a light hug, and he sobbed even harder. "I'm sorry about your sister…" Aang whispered.

"I'm not." I replied curtly.

"I'd hate to ruin the moment, but…what are we going to do about sparky and Iroh?" Toph asked with a grin.

Sokka, glad for the chance, grabbed Aang from me and pulled Katara and Toph off to the far side of the clearing. They all talked in hushed tones except for Sokka. They whispered together, the silence was often punctuated with a "No." or a "Are you crazy?!" from Sokka. I heard Iroh move to sit next to me. "Are you ever going to tell me what happened?" I looked at Iroh.

"Probably not." I smirked at him. He chuckled back and patted me on the back.

Aang, Toph, Katara, and a sulking Sokka walked back over toward us.

"We have decided to let you join the group if that is what you want." Aang spoke softly.

Iroh smiled widely and proclaimed that he would make tea to celebrate. I looked at the group I had been living with for the past few months. Aang was smiling slightly; his cheeks were stained with tears. Katara was not even looking at me; she was looking at the trees that surrounded us. Toph was grinning widely, at least she liked me, and it looked like I would at least gain two friends from this experience. Sokka was glaring daggers at me, and I had to suppress my urge to laugh. I looked back to Aang and sealed me fate. "I would like to join you."

Aang smiled and pulled Toph and Katara toward Iroh for a cup of tea. Sokka and I were left alone.

"You know, it was Katara and Toph's decision. I don't know what you did to make them trust you so much, but it wont be the same for me. You will always be my enemy." Sokka threatened.

"I wouldn't expect anything more." I glared right back.

I got up and walked to Iroh. Aang was telling him about his peoples histories, and in return Iroh was telling all of them embarrassing stories about me when I was a kid. "So…" Iroh laughed jovially, "Here he comes out of the nursery, butt naked and crying his eyes out, and comes running to me. So I say 'What's wrong Zuzu? Where's your clothes' and he said 'I-'"

"UNCLE!" I yelled, silencing him.

"Oh c'mon! Finish the story!" Toph said, she was laughing hysterically.

He looked at Toph and winked. "Maybe another time." I dint miss the fact that Iroh mouthed 'When Zuko's not here' to her. "So young avatar, when can we start your training?"

"What training?" Aang asked, he seemed very perplexed.

"For firebending of course!" Iron stated happily.

Aang's eyes widened and a smile appeared on his face. His sadness seemed to disappear. "You'll teach me? Really?" Aang jumped up and down a few times and then ran to give Iroh a hug.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

And so the days passed.

At first I wasn't trusted, I mostly kept to myself. But as I started to let go and show them my true self, they looked at me differently. Suddenly I wasn't their enemy, but instead I was a part of their family.

Weeks melted into months, and soon we found ourselves facing the firelord. With Iroh as the leader, our small army of old friends pounded through their defenses. We made a straight line for the palace. All of our skills combined with the avatar's power to wield all four elements helped us fight through the many hallways with me leading the way. I confidently made my way through the maze of the palace halls and in no time me were at the firelord's chamber door. I looked at Aang; he was outfitted in a traditional airbender wrap around tunic, his expression was fierce. He was finally ready to face the firelord, he had trained relentlessly. We were all surrounded be our friends and family, we were all ready for this. Aang took a deep breath and looked at all of us. We nodded in unison and Toph demolished the giant metal door. The four of us stormed in.

Firelord Ozai was sitting on hit throne. His dark form was silhouetted with the fire behind him. We all gat into a bending stance and waited. We all knew what would happen; we had been planning this for weeks. Aang was to challenge my father to an Agni Kai. And hopefully, he would win.

"Oh." Ozai said nonchalantly. "What a pleasant surprise, the avatar. Wait; is that my traitorous son Zuko?" Ozai reminded my strongly of Azula.

"I am not your son." I practically spat at him.

Ozai laughed. "So avatar, if your not here to turn yourself in to me, then what do you want? Chances are you won't make it out of here."

I took a step toward Ozai, but a hand stopped me. I looked over and it was Katara. She looked at me and shook her head. I reluctantly relaxed and stepped back.

"Firelord Ozai, I challenge you to an Agni Kai." Aang stated calmly, with courage I didn't know he possessed.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

The crowd grew silent as the firelord entered the arena square, then a thunderous cheer erupted, the whole of the firenation had come to see their lord defeat the avatar. I stood with Toph, Katara, and Sokka at the end of the arena, away from the crowd. I suddenly had a flashback of mine own Agni Kai with my father. My scar prickled uncomfortably and I shifted my feet. I was worried about Aang; I did not want Aang to end up like me. Scarred. Damaged. The two opponents bowed to each other and I had to breathe deeply to calm myself down. Aang and Ozai got into a bending stance. Ozai was the first to attack; he sent a wave of fire at Aang.

He jumped high up into the air, and had to use his airbending to propel himself even higher to avoid another volley of fire balls. Aang landed with grace and distracted him by sending bounders flying at him with unmatchable speed. Ozai bent backward to dodge the boulders and Aang punched the ground. His strike created shock waves in the arena floor that churned up the ground and heads toward the firelord in a straight line, as if a gopher were tunneling toward him at great speed. The boulders flew above his head, and he ducked to dodge the last one. The attack hit him quickly; it caught his feet and held him there.

Toph nudged me in the ribs, "I taught him that one." She said while smirking. I couldn't believe how calm Toph was through all of this. I know I should have faith in him, but I knew Ozai. He's holding back. Giving Aang a false sense of security.

Aang sent fireballs at Ozai, and then switched to rocks. Ozai dodged them in a show of agility. They were both getting nowhere; they only succeeded in tiring each other out. Aang summoned some water from a few surrounding pots and brought the water toward himself. His hands flexed as he threw the water at Ozai. The water formed frozen daggers midair and headed straight for his head. Ozai sent out blasts of fire, melting and evaporating them all before they cane within ten feet of him. He smirked and shot fire at Aang. Aang dodged them quickly and got back into a bending position.

Aang opened the flask at his hip and created a water whip. He flung it at Ozai and it hit him on his bare chest. The crowd laughed at the firelord's embarrassment. Ozai glared at him and burst from the ground that held him down. The firelord threw attack after attack at Aang, slowly advancing on him the entire time. Wit the skill of a master airbender, he nimbly dodged all of his attacks. A huge blast of fire suddenly burst from Ozai's fists and headed straight toward Aang. Hi jumped high and flipped over it, he landed softly on the other side only to encounter two fireballs heading quickly for his chest. He didn't have enough time to dodge. The fireballs hit his chest hard, sending him flying back. He landed a few feet away, and groaned. Ozai advanced on him until he was right next to his feet. He raised his fists and pointed them to the avatar's head. The firelord unexpectedly looked at me. Our eyes met and I knew what he was going to do. His eyes shifted to my scar and he smirked.

"No." I whispered, my voice was nowhere to be found. My head pounded painfully as my mind flashed back to the Agni Kai I fought with Ozai. I was on my knees, begging for forgiveness. I loved my father, I didn't want to dishonor him, and I wanted him to know that this was all a big mistake. That I didn't mean to do it. He smirked and raised his fists. 'You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher'. Fire erupted from his fists and I was suddenly backed in the present. I suddenly found my voice. "No!" I screamed. "Aang get up!"

Aang's eyes shot open just as fire burst from his fist. His eyes widened as he formed a dome of air to shield himself. He expanded the dome and it collided with Ozai sending him flying back. Aang ran up to Ozai and prepared his attack. Iroh told him only to use this attack as a last resort, only when you can do nothing else. I cringed as sparks began to fly at his fingertips. He brought his hands up toward the sky them back, and shot them forward at Ozai. His eyes widened as lightening shot from his fingertips and headed, with deadly precision, directly at him. It hit him in the chest, and his back arched from where he lie on the ground. I cringed as his body hit the floor. He was limp, lifeless, and dead. The firelord had fallen.

The crowd gasped, shock registered on everyone's face. Aang fell to his knees, he was exhauster. We all ran out to Aang and made sure he wasn't injured. The crowd started whispering at the sight of me, their banished prince. "Is that prince Zuko?" I heard clearly from the crowd. This made even more whispers start. I looked around and all eyes were on me. "What are we going to do now? We have no firelord?" Another crowd member asked aloud. "Who's the next in line for the throne?" Someone asked in reply. I suddenly froze, and my face paled.

I was next in line. It was me. I slowly turned to the crowd and all eyes were on my once again. But this time, their expression wasn't of surprise, but of respect instead. My breath hitched in my throat as an older man in the front row got on his knees and bowed to me. It had a ripple effect; soon the whole arena was on their knees.

"Why are they bowing?" Sokka asked me, drawing the attention of the rest of the group.

I stared in wide eyed horror at the crowd. "I'm the next in line for the throne. I am to be the next firelord." I said to Sokka. My voice sounded strangely small. Did I want this? Was I really fit to be the next firelord? I didn't think I was. Nobody would want me as their ruler. I was only seventeen years old, I was too young. But these people deserved a better future, a good life. Maybe with me as the firelord, I could give these people hope; just like that avatar did for the world. I wouldn't have to do this alone, my friends could help me. The avatar would help me.

Aang stared at me for a second, deciphering my expression, then stood up and addressed the crowd. "People of the firenation." Aang addressed the crowd in a booming voice, one that commanded their attention. Every one stood up and looked up at him, giving him their full attention. "Ozai, Fire Lord to the fire nation for 6 years. You were father of Zuko. Father of Azula. Husband of Ursa. We lay you to rest."

Aang approached the lifeless body of firelord Ozai and took the diadem from atop his head. Aang turned and approached me. With a sad smile Aang placed the diadem on my top knot fastening it on. "You are now succeeded by your firstborn son." Aang paused and looked me in the eye. "Hail Fire Lord Zuko!" he shouted.

It was silent for a few moments. The audience suddenly bowed low. "All hail firelord Zuko!" They shouted in unison. I turned around and Sokka, Toph, and Katara were all bowing to me. I told them to rise and they stood next to me. Katara took my hand as we stared at my subjects. We had come as rebels, but left as heroes.

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**Dont worry, I love this story too much to end it here. I'll pull an epilouge out of my ass just for you...I'll make it a Zutara one too!**

**Thank you to everyone who stuck with my story to the very end and commented on all the chapters! I love you all!**

**I have another Zutara fic that i will post within the week called 'Into the Darkness' I just have to de-suck it first...**


	10. Epilogue!

**I told you I'd pull an epilogue out of my ass, and I did. So this is what you get. ENJOY!**

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"You're a liar…" Ano muttered under her breath, looking away from me. 

"OH!" I faked a hurt expression. "How can you say that to your own father?" I hold my hand to my heart as if she her accusation pained my heart.

"Dad." She began with a haughty expression on her face. "Do you seriously expect me to believe this? I mean c'mon, you want me to believe you died? Twice?!"

"It's true, and I met Agni and he put me into your mother's body." I smirked at her.

"Urrgghh!" she threw her hands above her head like the six year old she is. "That's it, I want mom." She folds her arms across her chest and waited. I had to hold back my laugh.

I shrugged. "Okay, wait here then."

I start to chuckle as I head to my mothers garden, where I was sure she would be. I navigated my way through the maze of halls. I passed the portraits of my ancestors and I stopped to consider why I didn't destroy these things when I first became firelord. It's not like they deserve to be up there, they were horrible leaders. They don't deserve to be memorialized. Thanks to these guys, many innocent people died. A whole civilization was exterminated. These people were the ones who started the wild goose chase that was to capture the avatar. But overall, that's not a bad thing, well…the whole war/killing thing was bad, but without that experience I would have never met Katara.

I waved a few servants away and walked into the garden. Katara was sitting beside the pond, feeding the turtle ducks. I knelt down behind her and snaked my hands around her waist. That make her smile and lean back into me. I let out a long comfortable sigh as we sat and watched the family of turtle ducks swim. I sighed again as I remembered what I came here for. "Honey, I need your help." I said and kissed her lightly on her neck so she knew nothing was wrong. "I was telling Ano the story of when I met Agni, but she doesn't believe me. She wants you to tell her that I'm lying or something."

Katara smiled and looked at me. "Well, if I wasn't a part of it myself, I wouldn't believe it either." I stood and helped her up. We walked hand in hand to our daughter's room. We knocked gently and waited until her to tell us to come in, and then we sat on her bed.

"Mom, dad is trying to say that he died and was brought back to life in your body." Ano rolled her golden eyes at me. I had to suppress another snigger. "Tell me the truth." She demanded. Katara raised her eyebrows at her. "Please?" She added sheepishly.

Katara cleared her throat. "Actually, everything your father said was true."

"Even the part about you punching him?"

Katara smirked. "Yes."

"What about the parts when daddy fought the lion bear, and killed it with his bare hands?" And asked skeptically.

Katara looked at me with her eyebrows scrunched together. Her eyes narrowed and she had to try to suppress a laugh. I smiled and shrugged my shoulders as if to say 'I got a little carried away, so what?' Katara chuckled and gave me a look that clearly said 'Alright, I'll indulge you, but you owe me.' She turned back to Ano and replied. "Yes, he sure did."

"WOW!" she looked at me with wide eyes. "That's so cool!" She jumped up and down a few times on her bed. "But you know what I don't get? Why did you punch daddy if you love him?"

M wife smiled and laughed. "That's because I didn't. I hated him." She looked at me in the eye. "You're father was annoying and I couldn't stand him!" She said to Ano while looking lovingly at me. "He chased me all the way around the world, he tied me to trees, and he almost killed me a few times. He even stole the necklace I gave you." She fingered the blue pendant hanging from Ano's neck.

"Hey, I didn't steal it, I-"

"Then why did you marry him?" Ano said cutting me off.

"Young lady-" I warned her, but was again cut off, this time it's Katara. Damn, do I have any respect in this family? Nobody seems to be listening to me, and their talking about me as if I'm not even here. Maybe it's just a woman thing. Once they start talking about romance and stuff like that, it's like nothing else exists. Not even a husband and father like me.

"I married him because he changed. He went from an insensitive jerk, to a loving man. To put it simply, he grew up. We all did." Katara smiled at me and leaned over and kissed me. Her soft lips moved against mine gently, and I smiled into the kiss. I loved kissing this woman, she was indeed perfect. We both pulled apart as we heard a small grunt. I looked at Ano and her face was that of pure disgust. She wrinkled her nose at us and turned away. I looked at Katara and winked at her. We would definitely finish this later. "I grew to love this man." Katara continued once Ano stopped gagging.

"When did you realize that you loved him?" Ano asked curiously.

"Well, let me see…" she thought carefully for a moment. "It was during the final battle. When we were fighting I was worried about everyone, but I couldn't stop thinking about Zuko. I couldn't stop wondering to myself if he was okay, if he was injured, I was afraid that something might happen to him. At first, I thought nothing of it, you see we had become friends after he joined the group, but after a while I realized what it really was. Love"

"Ewww…" she pursed her lips. "Can I play with uncle Iroh?" she asked excitedly. It was then I realized what all of these questions were really about. She just didn't want to go to bed.

"No you can't; it's already way past your bedtime. You can play with him tomorrow." I said firmly. She turned her head hopefully to her mom. "I said no." I said loudly, she jumped and quickly scrambled under her blankets. Katara kissed her cheek and I did the same for her forehead. "Goodnight." I whispered as I neared the door.

I took Katara's hand after we closed her door. On out way to out bedroom, we stopped by the kitchen to get a midnight snack. Usually I would be expected of us to get the servants to do this, but that's not how she was raised. She was taught how to do things herself, and she hated it when the servants tried to help her. I learned to live with this. I put my hands around Katara and held her from behind as we walked to our room. I put my mouth to her neck and kissed it lightly. I inhaled her scent and sighed, she smelled just like rain. We walked in comfortable silence until we reached the hallway that connected to our room. She stopped and looked at me. "Why did you tell her about that story? Why not the one about Oma and Shu instead?"

"Well, she wanted a funny story, and I personally thought that whole experience was hilarious…" I said sarcastically.

She chuckled lightly. "What are you going to do tomorrow?"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, don't tell me you forgot!"

"…"

"Sokka and his family are coming over along with Toph and Aang. Remember? We've been talking about this for a week."

"Oh no, Sokka's bringing his family?" I really had no problem with Toph and Aang coming here, but Sokka was going to bring his wife, Suki, and their five kids. His kids were monsters. They took after their dad in all of the worst ways. I remembered last time they came over, and it wasn't pretty. They ate almost all of our food, and practically destroyed the gardens. I grunted to myself and cringed, I couldn't believe I forgot something like that. "This is going to be a nightmare; I'll have to send for the gardeners…"

Katara laughed. "They're not that bad, what about Toph? Last time she was here, she decided to challenge all of the palace guards to duels."

"Well, that wasn't bad. I actually found it extremely entertaining." I chuckled and opened to door to our room. We walked over to the bad and sat down on it.

"You might have thought it was funny, but the guards sure didn't." We lie down and she snuggled into my chest. I smiled and combed my fingers through her soft hair.

"Katara?" I asked. I extinguished the candles that gave us our light.

"Yeah?" She sighed and leaned further into my warm body.

"I love you." I whispered and kissed her just below her jaw.

She giggled. "And I love you too."

I smiled and kissed her once again before I fell asleep.

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**Wow, finishing a fic really does make you feel better inside!**

**Ok, so make me happy and Review! I'd like to know what you guys thought of the whole story, and tell me if there is anything I could do to make it better.**

**Shameless self advertisement A/N's of doom! **

**Youtube account where I upload vlogs: www (dot) youtube (dot) com / user / ariel4891 **remove the spaces

**Read my fic called Into the Darkness. I will update it weekly! In this one, zuko is waaay less OOC, so read and review!**


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